Abstract
The study area, Aetoliko Lagoon is a unique coastal Mediterranean landlocked ecosystem, controlled by tectonic activity and is characterized by permanent oxygen-depletion conditions (hypoxia/anoxia). The geological conditions, the geomorphology and the bathymetry of the lagoon, make the Aetoliko Lagoon an area of special interest for the research of the interplay between oxygen-depletion phenomena and human interference. Based on four research cruises within a time period of 1 year seasonal monitoring, in situ contemporary measurements in water column of physicochemical parameters pH, temperature (T, °C), salinity (S, ‰), dissolved oxygen (DO) and redox potential (E h) were taken, and laboratory analyses of total organic (TOC) and inorganic carbon (IC), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus were carried out. The water column is divided in three major layers: The upper layer (0–10-m depth) with seasonal salinities between 18.5 and 21.5 ‰; the middle layer (10–18.5-m depth) between 19.3 and 24.5 ‰; and the lower one (18.5–30 m) between 22.5 and 25.6 ‰. The lagoon’s lower layer was extended below 18-m depth with almost constant temperature of around 14–15 °C. Anoxic conditions were recorded below 10–11-m depth in July and November, and below 14-m depth in February and April. The vertical distributions of IC and TN values were strongly anticorrelated with the vertical distributions of DO and pH–E h values as the result of physical, chemical and biochemical procedures. The spatial lagoon sediment characteristics such as grain size and moment measures indicate that the lagoon sediments consists mainly of poorly to very poorly sorted fine-to-coarse silt and sandy mud rich in TOC, while the geochemical parameters indicated a partition in the northern and southern parts of the lagoon. The surface sediments of the lagoon bottom act as a ‘reservoir’ for the diachronic reload of the water column with nutrients and support the assumption that the human interference plays a secondary role in the ecological status of the lagoon.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
APHA (2005) Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, 21st edn 5310 A and 5310 B, total organic carbon (TOC): high-temperature combustion method
ASTM International (2008) Designation: D5176-08, standard test method for the total chemically bound nitrogen in water by pyrolysis and chemiluminescence detection
Avramidis P, Zelilidis A, Kontopoulos N (2000) Thrust dissection control of deep-water clastic dispersal patterns in the Klematia–Paramythia Foreland Basin, western Greece. Geol Mag 137:667–685
Avramidis P, Bouzos D, Antoniou V, Kontopoulos N (2008) Application of grain size trend analysis and spatiotemporal changes, as a tool for lagoon management. Case study the Kotychi Lagoon western Greece. Geol Carpathica 59:261–268
Avramidis P, Geraga M, Lazarova M, Kontopoulos N (2013a) Holocene record of environmental changes and palaeoclimatic implications in Alykes Lagoon, Zakynthos Island, western Greece, Mediterranean Sea. Quat Int 293:184–195
Avramidis P, Bekiari V, Kontopoulos N, Kokidis N (2013b) Shallow coastal lagoon sediment characteristics and water physicochemical parameters—Myrtari Lagoon, Mediterranean Sea, western Greece. Fresenius Environ Bull 22:1628–1635
Batiuk RA, Breitburg DL, Diaz RJ, Cronin TM, Secor DH, Thursby G (2009) Derivation of habitat-specific dissolved oxygen criteria for Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 381:S204–S215
Bekiari V, Avramidis P (2014) Data quality in water analysis: validation of combustion-infrared and combustion-chemiluminescence methods for the simultaneous determination of Total Organic Carbon (TOC) and Total Nitrogen (TN). Int J Environ Anal Chem 94:65–76. doi:10.1080/03067319.2013.763940
Berner RA (1989) Biogeochemical cycles of carbon and sulfur and their effect on atmospheric oxygen over Phanerozoic time. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol (Glob Planet Change Sect) 75:97–122
Bird E (2008) Coastal geomorphology. An introduction. Wiley, Chichester
Blott SJ, Pye K (2001) Gradistat. A grain size distribution and statistics package for the analysis of unconsolidated sediments. Earth Surf Process Landf 26:1237–1248
Boudreau BP, Westrich JT (1985) The dependence of bacterial sulphate reduction on sulfate concentration in marine sediments. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 48:2503–2516
Bouzos D, Κontopoulos Ν, Avramidis P (2002) Oceanographic observations in the Lagoon of Gialova, SW Greece. In: Proceedings of the 6th Greek congress of physical geography, pp 247–254
Breitburg DL, Hondorp DW, Davias LA, Diaz RJ (2009) Hypoxia, nitrogen, and fisheries: integrating effects across local and global landscapes. Annu Rev Mar Sci 1:329–349
Chalkias G (2006) Methodology development for the determination of heavy metals in coastal environments. Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. Application to Lake Trichonis and Aitoliko Lagoon. Ioannina University Press, Inc., Ioannina, p 195
Chamalaki A, Gianni A, Kehayias G, Zacharias I, Tsiamis G, Bourtzis K (2014) Bacterial diversity and hydrography of Etoliko, an anoxic semi-enclosed coastal basin in western Greece. Ann Microbiol 64(2):661–670
Christia C, Papastergiadou ES (2006) Ecological study of three lagoons of Amvrakikos Ramsar site, Greece. Fresenius Environ Bull 15:1208–1215
Cloern JE (2001) Our evolving conceptual model of the coastal eutrophication problem. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 210:223–253
Conley DJ, Carstensen J, Vaquer-Sunyer R, Duarte CM (2009) Ecosystem thresholds with hypoxia. Hydrobiologia 629:21–29
Danielidis D (1991) A systematic and ecological study of diatoms in the Lagoons of Messolonghi, Etoliko and Kleisova (Greece). Dissertation Thesis, University of Athens, p 287
Dassenakis M, Krasakopoulou E, Matzara B (1994) Chemical characteristics of Aetoliko Lagoon, Greece, after an ecological shock. Mar Pollut Bull 28:427–433
DIN EN 15936 (2009) Soil, sludge, waste and treated biowaste—determination of total organic carbon (TOC) by dry combustion
Ferentinos G, Papatheodorou G, Geraga M, Iatrou M, Fakiris E, Christodoulou D, Dimitriou E, Koutsikopoulos C (2010) Fjord water circulation patterns and dysoxic/anoxic conditions in a Mediterranean semi-enclosed embayment in the Amvrakikos Gulf, Greece. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 88:473–481
Folk RI (1974) Petrology of sedimentary rocks. Hamphill, Austind
Friedrich J, Janssen F, Aleynik D, Bange HW, Boltacheva N, Çagatay MN, Dale AW, Etiope G, Erdem Z, Geraga M, Gilli A, Gomoiu MT, Hall POJ, Hansson D, He Y, Holtappels M, Kirf MK, Kononets M, Konovalov S, Lichtschlag A, Livingstone DM, Marinaro G, Mazlumyan S, Naeher S, North RP, Papatheodorou G, Pfannkuche O, Prien R, Rehder G, Schubert CJ, Soltwedel T, Sommer S, Stahl H, Stanev EV, Teaca A, Tengberg A, Waldmann C, Wehrli B, Wenzhöfer F (2014) Investigating hypoxia in aquatic environments: diverse approaches to addressing a complex phenomenon. Biogeosciences 11(4):1215–1259
Froelich PN, Klinkhammer GP, Bender M, Leudtke NA, Heath GR, Cullen D, Dauphin P, Hammond D, Hartman B, Maynard V (1979) Early oxidation of organic matter in pelagic sediments of the eastern equatorial Atlantic: suboxic diagenesis. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 43:1075–1090
Gianni A, Zacharias I (2011) Anoxia, hydrogen sulfide and storm events in Aitoliko Lagoon, Greece. In: Proceedings of the 3rd international CEMEPE and SECOTOX conference, pp 125–130
Gianni A, Kehayias G, Zacharias I (2011) Geomorphology modification and its impact to anoxic lagoons. Ecol Eng 37:1869–1877
Gianni A, Kehayias G, Zacharias I (2012) Temporal and spatial distribution of physico-chemical parameters in an anoxic lagoon, Aitoliko, Greece. J Environ Biol 33:107–114
Gianni A, Zamparas M, Papadas IT, Kehayias G, Deligiannakis Y, Zacharias I (2013) Monitoring and modeling of metal concentration distributions in anoxic basins: Aitoliko Lagoon, Greece. Aquat Geochem 19(1):77–95
Golterman H (2004) The chemistry of phosphate and nitrogen compounds in sediments. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht
Haenssler E, Nadeau MJ, Vött A, Unkel I (2013) Natural and human induced environmental changes preserved in a Holocene sediment sequence from the Etoliko Lagoon, Greece: new evidence from geochemical proxies. Quat Int 308–309:89–104
Hatzikakidis A (1951) Seasonal hydrological study in Mesolongi–Etoliko Lagoon. In: Proceedings of the Hellenic Hydrobiological Institute, vol 5, No.1 (in Greek)
Hedges JI, Keil RG (1995) Sedimentary organic matter preservation: an assessment and speculative hypothesis. Mar Chem 49:81–115
Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploration of Greece, IGMEG (1996) Geological map scale 1:50000 Messolonghion sheet
Kennedy MJ, David R, Pevear DR, Ronald J, Hill RJ (2002) Mineral surface control of organic carbon in black shale. Science 295:657–660
Kiratzi A, Sokos E, Ganas A, Tselentis A, Benetatos C, Roumelioti Z, Serpetsidaki A, Andriopoulos G, Galanis O, Petrou P (2008) The April 2007 earthquake swarm near Lake Trichonis and implications for active tectonics in western Greece. Tectonophysics 452:51–65
Kjerfve B (1994) Coastal lagoon processes. Elsevier, Amsterdam
Kountoura K, Zacharias I (2011) Temporal and spatial distribution of hypoxic/seasonal anoxic zone in Amvrakikos Gulf, western Greece. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 94:123–128
Leonardos I, Sinis A (1997) Fish mass mortality in the Etolikon Lagoon, Greece: the role of local geology. Cybium 21:201–206
Mammitzsch K, Jost G, Jurgens K (2012) Influence of increasing dissolved inorganic carbon concentrations and decreasing pH on chemolithoautrophic bacteria from oxic–sulfidic interfaces. Biogeosci Discuss 9:18371–18395
Martin GD, Muraleedharan KR, Vijay JG, Rejomon G, Madhu NV, Shivaprasad A, Haridevi CK, Nair M, Balachandran KK, Revichandran C, Jayalakshmy KV, Chandramohanakumar N (2010) Formation of anoxia and denitrification in the bottom waters of a tropical estuary, southwest coast of India. Biogeosci Discuss 7:1751–1782
Mayer LM (1994) Surface area control of organic carbon accumulation in continental shelf sediments. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 58:1271–1284
Meletios Metropolitan of Artas and Nafpaktos (1807) Geography new and old, vol 4. Meletios Metropolitan of Artas and Nafpaktos, Venice
Nider X, Parlapas G (1882) Regarding the extraordinary geological phenomenon at Aetoliko Lagoon. Estia 13(321):122–125
Nixon SW (1995) Coastal marine eutrophication: a definition, social causes and future concerns. Ophelia 41:199–219
Papadas IT, Katerinopoulos L, Gianni A, Zacharias I, Deligiannakis Y (2009) A theoretical and experimental physicochemical study of sulfur species in the anoxic lagoon of Aitoliko-Greece. Chemosphere 74:1011–1017
Papadopoulos GA, Chalkis BJ (1984) Tsunamis observed in Greece and the surrounding area from antiquity up to the present times. Mar Geol 56:309–317
Papatheodorou G, Lavrentaki M, Mourelatos P, Voutsinas K, Xenos K (2001) Pockmarks (?) on the floor of the Aetoliko Lagoon, Greece. Fish News 238:73–87 (in Greek)
Papatheodorou G, Avramidis P, Fakiris E, Christodoulou D, Kontopoulos N (2012) Bed diversity in the shallow water environment of Pappas Lagoon in Greece. Int J Sediment Res 27:1–17
Paulmier A, Kriest I, Oschlies A (2009) Stoichiometries of remineralisation and denitrificationin global biogeochemical ocean models. Biogeosciences 6:923–935
Piper DJW, Panagos AG (1981) Growth patterns of the Acheloos and Evinos deltas Greece. Sediment Geol 28:111–132
Psilovikos A (1995) Evaluation and management of the lower Acheloos drainage water budget for the development and environmental enhancement of its estuary, lagoons and the greater area. Aristotle University Press, Inc., Thessaloniki 498
Sakai S, Nakaya M, Sampei Y, Dettman DL, Takayasu K (2013) Hydrogen sulfide and organic carbon at the sediment–water interface in coastal brackish Lake Nakaumi, SW Japan. Environ Earth Sci 68:1999–2006
Santos IR, Cook PLM, Rogers L, de Weys J, Eyre BD (2012) The “salt wedge pump”: convection-driven pore-water exchange as a source of dissolved organic and inorganic carbon and nitrogen to an estuary. Limnol Oceanogr 57:1415–1426
Sigg L (2000) Redox potential measurements in natural waters: significance, concepts and problems. In: Redox, fundamentals, processes and applications. Springer, Berlin, pp 1–12
Specchiulli A, D’Adamo R, Renzi M, Vignes F, Fabbrocini A, Scirocco T, Cilenti L, Florio M, Breber P, Basset A (2009) Fluctuations of physicochemical characteristics in sediments and overlying water during an anoxic event: a case study from Lesina Lagoon (SE Italy). Transit Waters Bull 3:15–32
Stumm W, Morgan JJ (1996) Aquatic chemistry: chemical equilibria and rates in natural waters. Wiley, New York, p 1022
Underhill JR (1988) Triassic evaporites and Plio-Quaternary diapirism, western Greece. J Geol Soc Lond 145:269–282
Vassilakis E, Royden L, Papanikolaou D (2011) Kinematic links between subduction along the Hellenic trench and extension in the Gulf of Corinth, Greece: a multidisciplinary analysis. Earth Planet Sci Lett 303:108–120
Vollenweider RA (1992) Coastal marine eutrophication: principles and control. In: Vollenweider RA, Marchetti R, Viviani R (eds) Marine coastal eutrophication. Elsevier, London, pp 1–20
Vött A (2007) Relative sea level changes and regional tectonic evolution of seven coastal areas in NW Greece since the mid-Holocene. Quat Sci Rev 26:894–919
Vött A, Schriewer A, Handel M, Brückner H (2007) Holocene palaeogeographies of the eastern Acheloos River Delta and the Lagoon of Etoliko (NW Greece). J Coast Res 23:1042–1065
Yakushev EV, Newton A (2013) Chemical structure of pelagic redox interfaces: observation and modeling. Handb Environ Chem 22:1–12
Zaghmouri I, Michotey VD, Guasco S, Raimbault P, Garcia N, Bernard G, Bonin PC (2013) Trends in salinity and inorganic nitrogen compounds in the Berre Lagoon (1994–2011) bacterial activities and nitrogen budgets. Mar Pollut Bull 67:55–65
Zillén L, Conley DJ, Andrén T, Andrén E, Björck S (2008) Past occurrences of hypoxia in the Baltic Sea and the role of climate variability, environmental change and human impact. Earth Sci Rev 91:77–92
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Avramidis, P., Bekiari, V., Christodoulou, D. et al. Sedimentology and water column stratification in a permanent anoxic Mediterranean lagoon environment, Aetoliko Lagoon, western Greece. Environ Earth Sci 73, 5687–5701 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3824-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3824-2