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Travertine caves in Almopia, Greece

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Travertine caves in Almopia, Greece

Georgios LAZARIDIS 1, Konstantinos P TRIMMIS 2 and Spyridoula PAPPA 3

1 Department of Geology, Laboratory of Geology and Palaeontology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece. E-mail: [email protected] 2 Department of Archaeology and Conservation, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, UK. E-mail: [email protected] 3 Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: Seven caves have been explored and surveyed within two travertine terraces (Aspri Petra and Baina) in the Almopia region, Greece. The Aspri Petra terrace is less faulted than the Baina and the caves of each terrace demonstrate differences that could be related to the degree of faulting.

Keywords: Cave, Travertine, Almopia, Greece

Received: 30 January 2017; Accepted: 24 July 2017.

Travertine caves are primary landforms (Bögli, 1978), which There are around 200 travertine caves in Greece but the means that their age of the cave formation is contemporary with authors are aware of published reports on only two of them: that of the enclosing (travertine) host rock, in contrast to the the showcave of Edessa’s waterfalls and the “Zesta Nera” in majority of limestone caves, which are formed by dissolution Sidirokastro. In the former cave the depositional process and of significantly older rocks. Compared to karst caves their the speleogenessis have been studied (Vavliakis, 1998). The dimensions are commonly small and rarely exceed some tens latter, “Zesta Nera”, cave is formed above the Krousovitis of metres. In this paper the term “travertine” is used in the sense River and it presents a rare landform (a 135m-long travertine described by Pentecost (2005, p.3): bridge; Lazaridis et al., 2005), for the formation of which the coexistence of several favourable prerequisites is necessary “a chemically-precipitated continental limestone formed (Bayari, 2002). A travertine bridge is a distinct type of primary around seepages, springs and along streams and rivers, travertine cave that is formed when deposition takes place occasionally in lakes, and consisting of calcite or above a river bed. This becomes possible when the travertine aragonite, of low to moderate intercrystalline porosity spring is located higher than the river’s level and the valley and often high mouldic or framework porosity within a is narrow enough to support lateral expansion of deposited vadose or occasionally shallow phreatic environment. travertine across the gap. Thus, the travertine deposit first Precipitation results primarily through the transfer bridges between the two riverbanks and subsequently expands (evasion or invasion) of carbon dioxide from or to laterally, along line of the valley. a groundwater source leading to calcium carbonate In Almopia (Fig.1) there are travertine terraces in the villages supersaturation, with nucleation/crystal growth occurring of Orma, Kato Loutraki, Promachoi and Garefi. All these upon a submerged surface”. terraces are located on the southern part of Voras Mountain, where long, normal faults delimit the mountainous area and Travertine deposits can be observed below thermal or karst the Almopia basin to the south. At least in the areas of Kato springs in many parts of Greece. The most prominent of these Loutraki and Orma, the travertine is related to thermal water deposits (Fig.1A) are located in the areas of Veroia–Edessa– springs. Furthermore, hydrothermal karst caves (hypogene) are Naoussa, Sidirokastro–Vamvakofyto–Thermopigi, in the also known in this area (the Almopia Speleopark) (Lazaridis, foothills of Paiko Mountain, in the Mygdonia basin, in Makri 2005; 2006). The thermal springs, hypogene caves and of Evros, in Aidipsos, in Kapandriti close to Athens and in the travertine are related to the Almopia geothermal field, to area of Petralona–Eleochoria in Chalkidiki. In some of these Quaternary volcanism in the area (Vougioukalakis, 2002) and areas the rock is quarried. to neotectonic activity.

58 Cave and Karst Science 44(2), 58 – 63, 2017 Travertine caves in Almopia, Greece

Figure 1: A. Map of Greece with Almopia Basin (red square) and selected travertine deposits 1. Veroia-Edessa-Naoussa; 2. Paiko Mountain; 3. Sidirokastro–Vamvakofyto–Thermopigi; 4. Mygdonia basin; 5. Petralona–Eleochoria; 6. Makri of Evros; 7. Aidipsos; 8. Kapandriti. B. Promachoi village with Baina and Aspri Petra travertine terraces. C. Aerial views of Baina (top) and Aspri Petra (bottom) terraces and cave locations. (GoogleEarth images). The Promachoi travertine caves School (coordinated by G Lazaridis and D Karadimitriou). Exploration and evaluation of the travertine caves in the By the end of 2011 seven travertine caves had been located, Almopia basin of northern Greece goes back to 2005 as a joint explored, and evaluated in two main areas around Promachoi project between the Department of Geology of the Aristotle village. The travertine caves of Baina were first explored in University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), the Department of 2006 and the caves of Aspri Petra in 2005. In 2011 the HSS- Northern Greece of the Hellenic Speleological Society (HSS) Department of Northern Greece carried out further exploration and the Environmental Education Club of Promachoi High and documentation of the Baina caves.

Figure 2: Partial view of the Aspri Petra travertine terrace.

59 Cave and Karst Science 44(2), 58 – 63, 2017 Travertine caves in Almopia, Greece

Aspri Petra (Figs 1 and 2) and Baina (Fig.1) are two travertine terraces in the vicinity of Promachoi village (northern Greece). Both terraces lie about 1.5 km from the settlement, the former towards the north and the latter towards the east. The area of the Aspri Petra terrace is about 10,000 m2 and the Baina terrace is approximately four times larger. Baina differs significantly from Aspri Petra in that it is intensely fractured. Fissures are developed mainly along SSW–NNE and WNW–ESE trends. The orientation and frequency of these fissures, and the can be observed on aerial images (Fig.1C, upper image). Two water samples were collected from springs located at the top and at the base of the Aspri Petra terrace, and these were analyzed in the laboratory of the National Agricultural Research Foundation (NAGREF). When plotted on a Piper (1944) diagram the water sample

analysis results, which are of Ca–HCO3 type, lie very close to the results for water collected from the main thermal spring within the Almopia Speleopark (Kato Loutraki) (Fig.3).Thermo-metallic waters that lie directly upon basement rocks in the Almopia region are of essentially the same type and show low levels of total Figure 3: Piper (1944) diagram with the Aspri Petra spring-water samples (red circles) and dissolved solids (TDS) (Lambrakis and the main thermal spring water from Almopia Speleopark – yellow circles – (Kato Loutraki). Kallergis, 2005).

Figure 4: Ground plans and photos of the Aspri Petra 1 and 2 caves.

60 Cave and Karst Science 44(2), 58 – 63, 2017 Travertine caves in Almopia, Greece

Figure 5: Ground plans and photos of the Baina 1 and 3 caves. In the Aspri Petra terrace there are two short, narrow and elongated caves (Fig.4 and Table 1). Aspri Petra-1 is located in the lowest part of the terrace whereas Aspri Petra-2, in which there is a small spring, is about 14m higher. Both caves developed transversally to the water-flow direction of the terrace surface. Lying several kilometres to the eastsoutheast of Aspri Petra (Fig.1B), the Baina travertine terrace contains five caves that are at least a few metres in length, as well as holding a number of smaller caves (Table 1). These caves contain a few speleothems, mostly flowstones and cave corals, with some stalactites and calcite crystals. Two of the caves, Baina-1 and Baina-3, are crevice caves that are oriented along fissures in the travertine (Fig.5). Other forms found are shelter-caves (Fig.6) and rock shelters (Fig.7), both terms applied sensu Bögli (1978). The Baina terrace spring is located in a shelter-cave (Fig.6). The most impressive cave is Baina-2 (Figs 8 and 9), which is a 9m-deep pothole with two entrances and a small spring inside the cave at the nοrthern lowermost point. The highest entrance is vertical whereas the lower one is horizontal, located on the cliff side of the terrace. After a short shaft (almost 2m deep) and a narrow passage, the cave is separated in two branches. The northern branch is narrow (0.6m maximum width) and leads to the spring, whereas the southern one begins with a deep shaft (almost 6m) that leads to a narrow passage (Fig.8). After the passage a small chamber opens up, and this leads to the second – horizontal – entrance of the cave on the cliff. In all four cavities there are plant fossils within the travertine. Baina-1, Baina-2 and Baina-5 also contain evidence of human use, including pottery sherds from drinking and water storage vessels, along with domestic animal dung. This combination of cooking and drinking vessels with dung deposits suggests that Figure 6: Shelter cave Baina-5 and Baina terrace spring.

61 Cave and Karst Science 44(2), 58 – 63, 2017 Travertine caves in Almopia, Greece

Figure 7: The Baina-5 rock- shelter .

Figure 8: Ground plan and profile of Baina-2 cave and photos from the passages.

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Table 1: Summary of the caves recorded Name Location Altitude (m) Type Orientation Dimensions N41.039550° in the Aspri Petra and Baina Aspri Petra-1 512 Primary cave 170° ~9m long travertine terraces. E22.001050° N41.039350° Aspri Petra-2 526 Primary cave 210° ~4m long E22.001233° N41.028639° Combination ~3m deep Baina-1 319 180°, 270° E22.019278° of fissures ~8m long N41.028611° Combination ~8m deep Baina-2 315 E 22.019094° of fissures ~12m long ~3m deep N41.028278° Baina-3 314 Crevice 160° 5.6m long E22.020472° 0.4m wide N41.029500° Shelter-cave/ Baina-4 348 – ~1.5×3.5m E22.020889° spring ~2m high East of Baina-1 and Baina-5 ~310 Rock-shelter ~3m long close to Baina-3 ~5m wide the Baina caves were used by local shepherds. A future goal Lazaridis, G, 2014. Processes of rock-shelter and shelter cave development. is to investigate the “relationships” that the local people have Examples from Greece. Proceedings of the V International Scientific with the travertine caves, and then to evaluate whether these Correspondence Conference. Speleology and Spelestology. To the centenary of A.V. Ryumin`s birth, 85–92. [Nabereznye Chelny.] “relationships” differ from those between the local people and Pentecost, A, 2005. Travertine. [Berlin Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag.] the limestone caves of the area. 445pp. Piper, A M, 1944. A graphic procedure in the geochemical interpretation Discussion of water analyses. Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union, The degree of fragmentation exhibited by the two travertine Vol.25(6), 914–928. terraces differs significantly; the Aspri Petra terrace exhibits Vavliakis, E, 1998. Formation – development of Edessa Cave and the limited fragmentation compared to that of the Baina terrace. positive relocation of the waterfall. Proceedings of First Panhellenic Consequently the Aspri Petra caves were formed by the process Speleological Conference “Man and Cave Environment”. Ministry of Culture, 68, Athens. typical of primary travertine caves, contemporaneously with the Vougioukalakis, G, 2002. Petrological, geochemical, volcanological travertine deposition, whereas the caves of Baina are mainly study of the Almopia Pliocene volcanic formations and their of crevice type and were formed soon after the deposition of correlation with the geothermal manifestations in the area. PhD the travertine. Shelter-caves such as Baina-5 seem to have been Thesis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 303pp., (in Greek with English summary). formed by undermining – a process that has been reported https://phdtheses.ekt.gr/eadd/handle/10442/15190?locale=en for travertine shelter-caves in the Silesian–Cracow upland (Gradzinski et al., 2001) and in Souroti, in northern Greece (Lazaridis, 2014). About 50 caves have been explored and recorded in the Almopia region, including the travertine caves described here. This means that more than 10% of the caves currently known in the area are formed in travertine, the remainder being dissolution caves in limestone. This percentage is higher than in other parts of Greece where travertine caves commonly represent only 2% of the total known caves. Acknowledgements We thank Dimitris Karadimitriou, leader of the Environmental Education Club of Promachoi High School. The Expedition of 2011 was supported by the Hellenic Speleological Society – Department of Northern Greece. Sincere thanks also to Professor John Gunn for his critical review and suggestions that improved the manuscript. References Bayari, C S, 2002. A rare landform: Yercopru travertine bridges in the Taurids karst range, Turkey. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, Vol.27, 577–599. Bögli, A., 1978. Karsthydrographie und Physische Speläologie. [Heidelberg: Springer Verlag.] 292 pp. Lambrakis, N and Kallergis, G, 2005. Contribution to the study of Greek thermal springs: hydrogeological and hydrochemical characteristics and origin of thermal waters. Hydrogeology Journal, Vol.13, 506–521. Lazaridis, G, Vavliakis, E and Pennos, Ch, 2005. Temporal earthpyramids in caves. An example from Zesta Nera cave of Sidirokastro, Serres (Macedonia, Greece). Proceedings of 14th International Congress of Speleology, Vol.2, 579–581, Athens– Kalamos, Greece. Lazaridis, G, 2005. Speleological research in the Loutra Arideas area (Macedonia, Greece). 57–64 in Neue Forschungen zum Höhlenbären in Europa. Naturhistorische Gesellschaft: Nürnberg. V.45. Lazaridis, G, 2006. Almopia Speleopark (Pella, Macedonia, Greece): Morphology–Speleogenesis of the caves. Scientific annals, School of geology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Special Volume 98, 33–40. Figure 9: Passage view during the exploration of Baina-2.

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