Koumoundourou lake
| Koumoundourou lake | ||
|---|---|---|
| Geographical location | Attica , Greece | |
| Drain | Bay of Eleusis | |
| Data | ||
| Coordinates | 38 ° 1 '26 " N , 23 ° 36' 0" E | |
|
||
| surface | 143,000 m² | |
| length | 600 m | |
| width | 400 m | |
| Maximum depth | 3 m | |
| Middle deep | 1.5 m | |
The Koumoundourou Lake ( Greek Λίμνη Κουμουνδούρου , Limni Koumoundourou , one of the lakes called Rheitoi in Greek Ῥειτοί in ancient times ) is a lake in Attica in the municipality of Aspropyrgos , immediately adjacent to the area of the municipality of Chaidari .
geography
The Koumoundourou Lake is actually a sea lagoon , especially since it is located at almost sea level in the immediate vicinity of the coast of the Bay of Eleusis . Today the Athens-Corinth motorway separates it from the sea. It contains brackish water . The surface of the lake is approx. 143,000 m², its maximum length and width 600 and 400 m. The lake is mostly shallow, with an average depth of 1.5 m, while the depth in the area of the springs at the bottom of the lake reaches 3.0 m.
history
In antiquity there were two small lakes in the area of today's Koumoundourou Lake, which were called Rheitoi in Greek Ῥειτοί . They were fed by springs on the western slope of Mount Egaleo and were formed when the flow of the springs was blocked by the construction of the road along the coast. During the construction of the road embankment, building material was found that apparently came from an Eleusinian sanctuary built by Peisistratos and used by the Persians in 479 BC. Had been destroyed. Pausanias reports that according to tradition, the lakes were consecrated to Demeter and their daughter Persephone , and only their priests had the right to catch fish there. The two lakes survived until the 19th century. They contained natural fish stocks until the 1950s. The northern, larger lake Kephalari was drained in the early 1950s and backfilled during the construction of the oil refinery in Aspropyrgos. The current name of the lake goes back either to the name of the landowners who owned the area in the 19th century or to that of Prime Minister Alexandros Koumoundouros (1817–1883), during whose tenure in the second half of the 1860s excavation and road works between the Coast at Skaramanga and the lake.
A contaminated biotope
The lake is surrounded by various industrial plants and oil refineries which have polluted the lake from oil spills and spills. Hellenic Petroleum's refineries caused underground oil spills that contained crude oil, kerosene and diesel and released them into the lake. The storage of significant quantities of polychlorinated biphenyls by DEI without security measures and various steel industries and units for the lead recycling of batteries resulted in lead , cadmium and tin loads in the soil that are 2 to 20 times greater than normal. In addition, drainage from the industrialized catchment area pollutes the lake with seepage water from landfills and air pollution from industrial chimneys.
Although the lake is heavily polluted, the water cycle supported by wind is so strong that a strong bioaccumulation of pollutants is avoided. The oil film on the surface of the lake is pushed to drain into Eleusis Bay and the concentration of heavy metals in water and sediment is lower than in other areas without oil pollution. In the bottom zone of the lake large-format, pollution- resistant Nereis spp. before as well as 64 phytoplankton species . The lake is also home to mullets ( Mugil spp. ) And eels ( Anguilla anguilla ).
A survey of the birds in Lake Koumoundourou by the Greek Ornithological Society in 2009 and 2010 found that the lake is home to 38 species of birds, mainly waterfowl and seagulls . Five of the endangered and critically endangered species and subspecies (Annex I of EU Directive 79/409 ) were observed at the lake . In particular, the bog duck , a species on the Red List of Threatened Breeding Birds as an Endangered Species, has been observed in the area. Duck species include the shoveler , teal , pochard , gadfly and wigeon , as well as swans . Coots and little grebes were breeding at the lake .
Individual evidence
- ↑ T. Mimides, K. Pylarinou, Advances in hydrocarbon fingerprinting. The case of ELPE refinery and Lake Koumoundourou, Aspropyrgos, Greece ( Memento of the original from January 7, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Description of Greece, I, 38.1 English translation ; German translation by Johann Heinrich Schubart at google.books
- ↑ Website of the municipality of Chaidari, History of Lake Koumoundourou (Greek) ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Roido Mitoulaa, Katerina Philippou, Dimitris Lagos: Sustainable development and environmental reconstruction in the municipality of Aspropyrgos in Greece ( Memento des original from February 15, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ AJ Conides, A study of oil pollution effects on the ecology of a coastal lake ecosystem
- ↑ TVXS.gr: "The Koumoundourou Lake: A wetland, drowned in poison" (Greek)
