Abstract
Prespa Lake and Ohrid Lake constitute a hydraulic system shared between Albania, FYR of Macedonia and Greece. Karst rocks separate both lakes. The elevation of Prespa Lake is about 150 m higher than that of Ohrid Lake. Considering these facts, Cvijić formulated in 1906 the hypothesis that Prespa Lake recharges the St. Naum and Tushemisht springs at Ohrid lakeside. Environmental isotopes demonstrated that Prespa Lake recharges about 37–42 and 52–54% of water emerging in St. Naum, and Tushemisht springs, respectively. An artificial tracer experiment carried out in 2002 physically demonstrated the underground connection between both lakes. This experiment confirmed the supposed underground connection and brought important information about the groundwater velocity, transit time, and karst water conduits development.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anovski T, Andonovski B, Minceva, B (1991) Study of the hydrologic relationship between Ohrid and Prespa Lakes. In: Proceedings of an IAEA international symposium, 319:62, IAEA-SM-Vienna, pp. 11–15 March 1991,
Bradley M, Brown R M, Gonfiantini R, Payne BR, Prezewlocki K, Sauzay G, Yen CK, Yurtsever Y (1972) Nuclear techniques in groundwater hydrology. In: Groundwater studies. Chapter 10, UNESCO, Paris
Cvijić J (1906) Fundamentals of Geography and Geology of Macedonia and Serbia (in Serbian), special edn. VIII, Belgrade, pp 680
Eftimi R, Tafilaj I, Bisha G (1975) Hydrogeological map of Albania, scale 1:200.000 Albanian Hydrogeological Service Tirana
Eftimi R, Zoto J (1997) Isotope study of the connection of Ohrid and Prespa lakes. In: Towards integrated conservation and sustainable development of transboundary macro and micro Prespa Lakes. International symposium, Korcha, Albania, pp 32–37
Gat JR, Dansgaard W (1970) Isotope hydrology of Arava Valley: an isotope study of the origin and interrelationship. Isr J Earth Sci 31:25–38
Garašic M (1997) Karst water tracing in some of the speleological features (caves and pits) in Dinaric karst area in Croatia. In: Kranjc A (ed) Tracer hydrology, Balkema, Rotterdam, pp 229–236
Kogovšek J, Petrič M (1997) Properties of underground water flow in karst area near Lunan in Yunan Province, China. In: Kranjc A (ed) Tracer hydrology, Balkema, Rotterdam, pp 255–261
Leontiadis IL, Smyrniotis CH, Nikolaou E, Georgidis P (1997) Isotope hydrology study of the major areas of Paramythia and Koroni, Epirus, Greece. In: Procedings of fifth international symposium and field seminar on karst, waters and environmental impact, Anatalya, Turkey, 10–20 September 1995, Balkema, Rotterdam, pp 239–247
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to express their gratitude to the IAEA, Vienna, and in particular to the Isotope Hydrology Section for continuous care and financial support of the project RER/8/008 “Study of Prespa Lake Using Nuclear and Related Techniques”.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Amataj, S., Anovski, T., Benischke, R. et al. Tracer methods used to verify the hypothesis of Cvijić about the underground connection between Prespa and Ohrid Lake . Environ Geol 51, 749–753 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-006-0388-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-006-0388-9