Cent. Eur. J. Geosci. • 3(2) • 2011 • 215-228 DOI: 10.2478/s13533-011-0019-1 Central European Journal of Geosciences PINIOS (PENEUS) RIVER (CENTRAL GREECE): HYDROLOGICAL - GEOMORPHOLOGICAL ELEMENTS AND CHANGES DURING THE QUATERNARY Research article George Migiros 1 ∗, George D. Bathrellos2† , Hariklia D. Skilodimou 2‡ , Theodoros Karamousalis 1 1 Laboratory of Mineralogy – Geology, Department of Science, Agricultural University of Athens, Greece, 2 Department of Geography & Climatology, Faculty of Geology & Geoenvironment, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, University Campus, Zografou, 15784 Athens, Greece, Received 18 March 2011; accepted 5 June 2011 Abstract: The Pinios River is the third longest river of Greece. It drains the entire drainage basin of Thessaly (eastern part of Central Greece), part of which is the largest plain of the country. In this research the hydrological, geomorpho- logical and geological characteristics of the riverine area of Pinios were studied. Classification and grouping of these characteristics were then carried out, which led to the segmentation of the Pinios River into seven sections, each one with its own set of thematic data. These sets assign separate functions and evolutions of the river system during the Quaternary. Specifically, the basin of the present Pinios River, before its evolution into a river basin, comprised three separate and independent systems. The present Pinios River emerged as a river system from the merging of the lacustrine paleoenvironments along with the major tributaries that drained large parts of the present hydrological basin and as soon as the karstic openings of the central hill valley and the Tempi valley took place during the Quaternary. The followed methodology for the segmentation of the river can be used for the study of heterogeneous river systems. Keywords: Pinios River • Quaternary • segmentation • river evolution © Versita Sp. z o.o. 1. Introduction and drains the entire hydrologic basin of Thessaly, dis- charging into the Aegean Sea, where it forms delta. Its course starts at the northwestern part of the Thes- saly plain, from the confluence of Ion and Malakasiotis The Pinios River is the third longest river in Greece, Rivers. It is surrounded by mountainous areas which en- crosses a large part of the eastern part of central Greece close its drainage basin and form its watershed. To the north are the Titaros Mt. (1,837 m) and the Kamvou- nia Mt. (1,615 m), to the northeast are the Olympos ∗E-mail: [email protected] † E-mail: [email protected] Mt. (2,917 m) and the Ossa Mt. (1,978 m), to the east ‡ E-mail: [email protected] is the Pilio Mt. (1,548 m), to the south is the Orthrys 215 PINIOS (PENEUS) RIVER (CENTRAL GREECE): HYDROLOGICAL - GEOMORPHOLOGICAL ELEMENTS AND CHANGES DURING THE QUATERNARY Figure 1. The location map of the study area; The drainage basin of Pinios River, its major tributaries, the main mountains, and the classes of elevation. Mt. (1,726 m) and finally to the west are the Pindos Mt. near the Pinios River and its tributaries [7, 8]. Some of (2,204 m) and the Koziakas Mt. (1,901 m). Internally, the those settlements kept on existing throughout the Bronze plain is divided by a low-lying hill area into a western Age (around 3,200-1,100 B.C.) and were converted into part (Trikala-Karditsa) and an eastern part (Larisa). important strongholds during the historical times. The in- The major tributaries of Pinios River are the Portaikos, habitants of those settlements took advantage of the river Pamisos and Enippeas Rivers to the southwest and the water and used it for water supply, irrigation, defense, and Lithaios, Neochoritis and Titarisios to the north, which cleanliness. The life quality of the inhabitants was further all drain large, geologically heterogeneous areas, through improved by the construction of water ducts and sewerage extensive hydrographic networks (Fig. 1). systems, aqueducts, wells and public baths. But whilst the Pinios River provided local inhabitants in many benefits, The Pinios River crosses various geotectonic environ- it was also responsible for some catastrophic events [9]. ments, which form the tectonic window of the Olympos- Ossa unit, the Koziakas unit and the eastern nappes of Important civilizations have emerged along the course of the Pelagonian zone and the Eastern Greece zone (Sub- Pinios River from the Paleolithic Age until the present pelagonian) [1–3]. day; several great individuals of the antiquity were born Many historical records (historical geomorphology) men- and raised at Thessaly, such as Asclepius [10], the great tion the Pinios River, its tributaries and the plain it healer-god of the ancient world. During the recent his- crosses. A reference [4] names the lowest lying part of the torical period, Pinios and its tributaries shaped the life of western Thessaly plain as Limnaion which in the antiquity the inhabitants of the cities of Thessaly (Larisa, Trikala, meant a low-lying place with little drainage that forms etc.), by attracting residential, industrial, commercial and swamps and lakes. At the eastern part of the plain, during economic activities to the region. periods of increased water flow, the Pinios River supplied The fluvial geomorphological processes and river evolution the ancient lakes of Asmaki and Voiviida (or Karla). are issues of worldwide studies [11–16]. Many researchers The vitalizing potential of the Pinios River has been ex- have focused in morphometric parameters of the riverbeds ploited since the Paleolithic Age [5], since there is much [14, 17–23] and fluvial terraces [24–27] in order to exam- proof of human inhabitation at that time (Theopetra Cave, ine the river evolution. The complexity of the Pinios River nearby Trikala town) [6]. During the Neolithic Age - a system, due to both its physical attributes and the ge- period characterized by the initiation of productive ac- ological structure of the area, comprise the epicenter of tivities (agriculture) and permanent inhabitation - signifi- the current research, with the aim of analyzing the evo- cant settlements (Sesklo, Diminio, Pelinneo) were situated lution of the river during the Quaternary. Hence, studies 216 George Migiros , George D. Bathrellos, Hariklia D. Skilodimou , Theodoros Karamousalis have focused on the hydrological, geological and geomor- 3. Hydrological settings phological characteristics of the Pinios River. Specifi- cally, the heterogeneity of the river system was examined The Pinios River has an approximate length of 205 Km and though the analysis of the morphometric parameters of its hydrological basin covers an area of 10,700 km2. The the riverbed and a study of the fluvial terraces. In the mean annual precipitation is 779 mm and the mean annual present research, an attempt was made to obtain the seg- total flow of the river is 3,500x106 m3. Its hydrological mentation of the Pinios River into different homogeneous basin is divided into three main sub-basins: sections, by the classification and grouping of the above mentioned characteristics. These sections represent dif- • The Trikala-Karditsa basin to the west (area: ferent circumstances for the development and evolution of 5,955 km2, tributaries: Portaikos, Pamisos, Enip- the river system during the Quaternary. peas, Lithaios and Neochoritis). The tributaries of the Pinios River have a radial configuration in their flow direction giving the impression that they drain 2. Data – Methodology the mountainous belt of western Thessaly leading towards the lowland zone. It should be noted that some of the tributaries ended in the swampy area The data collected or created in the context of the current of Trikala – Karditsa and their current connection research were: to the Pinios River was made artificially by humans - Thematic maps (mainly topographical, hydrological, in the 20th century (e.g. Pamissos, Lithaios). geological, hydrogeological, soil and land use) with scales of 1:50,000 or 1:5,000. • The Elassona-Tirnavos basin to the north (area: - Air photos (scales 1:30,000 and 1:15,000 taken between 2,040 km2, tributary: Titarisios). The hydrographic 1998-1999 and 2005-2006) and satellite images LAND- network of Titarisios River has an autonomous de- SAT 5 and QUICKBIRD. velopment draining large parts of the mountains - Meteorological, climatological and hydrological data. Kamvounia, Titaros and Olympus. - Field work. • The Larisa-Karla to the east (area: 2,438 km2, Pin- ios River). The hydrographic network of the eastern As a working scale, the 1:50,000 maps were used for the basin has limited growth, due to the presence of the generic recording and the 1:5,000 maps for the particular- karstic mountain masses of Olympos-Ossa, as well ization and substantiation of data. For the needs of the as of the karstic Lake Karla in the Southeast [28]. current research, a riverine zone having a mean width of 5 Km, was mapped. The riverine zone includes the area The drainage network of the sub-basins is quite complex, of the immediate hydrological, geomorphological and ge- since it drains areas of rather dissimilar geomorphology, ological influence on the evolution and development of the geology and land use. The plain area crossed by Pinios river. River is divided by the presence of a low-lying hill area into two parts (Fig.1): (a) the western, whose altitude The methodology followed by the current research com- varies between 80 – 200 m, and (b) the eastern, whose al- prises: titude varies between 45 – 100 m. The mountainous and a) The collection, evaluation, registration and process of hilly area crossed by Pinios River, has a quite rugged thematic data, digital and numerical. surface with altitudes exceeding 200 m. The most impor- tant gorges are the ones of Kalamaki (internal low-lying b) Creation of thematic maps (morphological, geomo- hill area), Rodia and Tempi (between Olympos and Ossa). prhological geological and hydrogeological) and Through these areas the water flow velocity is high and databases, using ArcGIS 9.3.