Korça intermountain basin is the largest of its kind in Albania and from the hydrogeological poin... more Korça intermountain basin is the largest of its kind in Albania and from the hydrogeological point of view represents a semiclosed intermountain basin developed in Pliocene-Holocene granular unconsolidated deposits, which maximal thickness is about 300 m. The aquifer consists of intergranular gravelly to sandy layers containing artesian groundwater and the drilling wells are free flowing on most of the basin surface. The main recharge of the intergranular aquifer comes mainly from the rivers and torrents flowing from mountain gorges around the Korça Plain. The natural groundwater drainage of Korça basin is realized through the vertical leakage in the area of the former Maliq marsh. Hydrochemistry of the aquifers show the presence of four main hydrochemical facies which are related mainly to the hydrochemistry of the recharge sources and to the solution processes and ion exchange. In the central part of the basin the water supply wells of the cities Korça and Maliq are located. The natural renewable groundwater resources of the basin are relatively restricted, but the volume resources (or static water resources) are abundant (about 1.1 × 10-9 m 3). The perspective of their exploitation is very important, but respecting the "basin yield" concept that is defined as the maximum rate of withdrawal that can be sustained by the hydrogeological system of groundwater basin without causing unacceptable changes to any other environmental component of the basin. To face the problems related to the intensification of the groundwater pumping systematic observations of the hydraulic reaction of the basin and of the possible groundwater quality deterioration and other negative environmental impacts must be organized. The purpose of the present study is for the first time to analyze the abundant basin wide hydrogeological data and to evaluate: (1) geometry and hydraulic parameters of the aquifers: (2) groundwater hydrodynamic conditions; (3) their chemical composition and (4) the natural groundwater resources and the possibility to intensify the groundwater pumping in close relation to the environmental impact.
The municipal water supply, related mainly to the cities of Albanian, began to develop in the sec... more The municipal water supply, related mainly to the cities of Albanian, began to develop in the second half of the 19th century and much intensively after 1945. Today the reported mean water production for the cities, on average, is about 300 l/capita/d including drinking and industrial water supply. The territory of Albania consists of uneven distribution of very heterogeneous aquifers conditioning the reach variety of the municipal water supply solutions. In this article are analyzed and classified the hydrogeological aspects of water supply sources of the settlements, which are summarized in five groups: (a) Wells in alluvial intergranular aquifers; (b) karst springs; (c) wells in karst aquifers; (d) springs in fissured rocks, and (e) mixed water sources. For each group of the water supply sources the main concerns regarding the quantity and quality problems are analyzed facilitated by the description of a variety of representative examples of different situations. Based on the gai...
The diversity of ground water chemistry in the Peshkopi gypsum karst area may be related to its s... more The diversity of ground water chemistry in the Peshkopi gypsum karst area may be related to its set ting within the tectonically active Korab Mas sif (Al ba nia), as shown by field tests of tem per a ture, pH, Eh and EC, and sam pling of the wa ters for chem ical anal y sis (both ma jor and trace com po nents) from cool brack ish springs and min er al ized ther mal springs. The re la tion ship be tween the chem i cal com po si tion of the spring wa ters and of the res er voir rocks was elu ci dated by anal y sis of anhydrite-gyp sum rocks and ex per i men tal dis so lu tion of an anhydrite-gyp sum sam ple. Sta tis ti cal anal y sis was used in the pro cess ing of hydrochemical data. Com par i son of an a lyt i cal re sults from 2019 with ear lier data in di cates compositional stabil ity of the groundwaters over time. Our re sults to gether with sta tis ti cal anal y sis of the hydrochemical data sup port an ear lier hy poth e sis of two sys tems of ground wa ter cir cu la tion within the anhydrite-gyp sum de pos its of the Peshkopi re gion. A shallow cir cu la tion sys tem in volves cold (10-14°C), mainly brack ish SO 4-Ca wa ters with very low con cen tra tions of Na + and Clions, re flect ing their for ma tion in a sul phate rock en vi ron ment that prob a bly cor re sponds spa tially with a gyp sum layer formed by hydration of anhydrite in the near-sur face zone. A deep cir cu la tion sys tem con di tioned, inter alia, by the pres ence of a large fault, brings to the sur face wa ter at up to 44°C, sat u rated with H 2 S, min er al ized, of the SO 4-Ca type with an increased con tent of Na, K, HCO 3 , Cl, BO 3 and SiO 2. The chem i cal com po si tion of these wa ters, re gard less of the pres ence of large amounts of sulphates, is sig nif i cantly dif fer ent and sug gests the in flu ence of other fac tors on their for ma tion, such as slow cir cu la tion, con tact with flysch rocks in the fault zone and the mix ing of deep and near-sur face wa ters in the fi nal part of their as cent to the sur face. Key words: gyp sum karst, ground wa ter shal low and deep cir cu la tion sys tems, wa ter chem i cal com po si tion, ther mal springs, Al ba nia.
The diversity of ground water chemistry in the Peshkopi gypsum karst area may be related to its s... more The diversity of ground water chemistry in the Peshkopi gypsum karst area may be related to its set ting within the tectonically active Korab Mas sif (Al ba nia), as shown by field tests of tem per a ture, pH, Eh and EC, and sam pling of the wa ters for chem ical anal y sis (both ma jor and trace com po nents) from cool brack ish springs and min er al ized ther mal springs. The re la tion ship be tween the chem i cal com po si tion of the spring wa ters and of the res er voir rocks was elu ci dated by anal y sis of anhydrite-gyp sum rocks and ex per i men tal dis so lu tion of an anhydrite-gyp sum sam ple. Sta tis ti cal anal y sis was used in the pro cess ing of hydrochemical data. Com par i son of an a lyt i cal re sults from 2019 with ear lier data in di cates compositional stabil ity of the groundwaters over time. Our re sults to gether with sta tis ti cal anal y sis of the hydrochemical data sup port an ear lier hy poth e sis of two sys tems of ground wa ter cir cu la tion within the anhydrite-gyp sum de pos its of the Peshkopi re gion. A shallow cir cu la tion sys tem in volves cold (10-14°C), mainly brack ish SO 4-Ca wa ters with very low con cen tra tions of Na + and Clions, re flect ing their for ma tion in a sul phate rock en vi ron ment that prob a bly cor re sponds spa tially with a gyp sum layer formed by hydration of anhydrite in the near-sur face zone. A deep cir cu la tion sys tem con di tioned, inter alia, by the pres ence of a large fault, brings to the sur face wa ter at up to 44°C, sat u rated with H 2 S, min er al ized, of the SO 4-Ca type with an increased con tent of Na, K, HCO 3 , Cl, BO 3 and SiO 2. The chem i cal com po si tion of these wa ters, re gard less of the pres ence of large amounts of sulphates, is sig nif i cantly dif fer ent and sug gests the in flu ence of other fac tors on their for ma tion, such as slow cir cu la tion, con tact with flysch rocks in the fault zone and the mix ing of deep and near-sur face wa ters in the fi nal part of their as cent to the sur face. Key words: gyp sum karst, ground wa ter shal low and deep cir cu la tion sys tems, wa ter chem i cal com po si tion, ther mal springs, Al ba nia.
The municipal water supply, mainly related with the cities, in Albanian began to develop in the s... more The municipal water supply, mainly related with the cities, in Albanian began to develop in the second half of the 19th century and particularly after 1945. Today, the total capacity of water supply systems mainly for the citiescorresponds to an average rate about 300 l/day per capita. The territory of Albania consists of uneven distribution of very heterogeneous aquifers. In this article are classified and analyzed the water supply sources of the settlements, which are summarized in five groups: a) Wells in alluvial intergranular aquifers; b) karst springs; c) wells in karst aquifers; d) springs in fissured rocks, and e) mixed water sources like: karst springs, drilling wells and surface water. For each group of the water supply sources are analyzed the main concerns regarding the quantity and quality and many examples are given how are solved the problems. Beside this, some recommendations also are given for a sustainable groundwater water supply management, especially related to ...
Two big lakes are located in southeastern Albania, near the border with Former Yugoslav Republic ... more Two big lakes are located in southeastern Albania, near the border with Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Prespa Lake at elevation 850 m above sea level (a.s.l.), and Ohrid Lake at elevation 695 m a.s.l. Mali Thate – Galichica Mountain, which is constructed mainly of carbonate karstfied formations, separates them. In the Tushemisht – Sveti Naum sector of Ohrid Lake, situated on both sites of Albanian – FYROM border, big springs issue that are supposed to be fed by Prespa Lake by the underground karst flow Environmental isotope data of Deuterium and 18O have been used to identify the origin of the recharge of Tushemisht springs situated in Albanian territory. The results of this study indicate that 52 % of the mean discharge of Tushemisht springs is recharged from Prespa Lake, and 48 % of their discharge is recharged from the infiltration of the precipitation in Mali Thate – Galichica Mountain.
The mid-al ti tude moun tain mas sif of Mali me Gropa is lo cated in the cen tral part of Al ba n... more The mid-al ti tude moun tain mas sif of Mali me Gropa is lo cated in the cen tral part of Al ba nia, rises to an al ti tude of 1500-1800 m a.s.l., is com posed mostly of Me so zoic lime stone, and is char ac ter ized by ex ten sive sur face karst de vel op ment. The karst re lief is dom i nated by "doline" mor phol ogy in clud ing "po lyg o nal" karst. De tailed geomorphological anal y sis of the west ern part of the Mali me Gropa mas sif (so-called West ern Mas sif) by means of GIS meth ods is used to de ter mine and ex plain the morphometric and mor pho log i cal di ver sity of the area's to pog ra phy. Based on a ho mo ge ne ity cri te rion, a num ber of geomorphological units with spe cific kinds of karst re lief have been dis tin guished within the mas sif. The dif fer ences in karst sculp ture con cern the size (di am e ter) of dolines and de pres sions, their depth, shape and sym me try, ori en ta tion, den sity of oc cur rence and spa tial pat tern, which pro vide the ba sis for dis tin guish ing geomorphological units. The spa tial dif fer en ti a tion of the karst re lief is ex plained by the in flu ence of fac tors which are evo lu tion ary (geo log i cal and geomorphological evo lu tion of the mas sif), hypsometric (al ti tude dif fer ence of ter rains) and geomorphologic-struc tural (in cli na tion of the slopes and layers). The rel a tively poor ex pres sion of open karst con duits (i.e. caves and ver ti cal shafts) on the sur face of the mas sif may result from the rel a tive im ma tu rity of the epikarst zone, the wide spread oc cur rence of re sid ual cover on the pla teau, and the ac cu mu la tion of large amounts of clay ma te rial in dolines and de pres sions. De tailed hydrogeological stud ies show, how ever, high karst per me abil ity and dom i nance of con duit flow. Con sid er ing the high geomorphological land scape and eco log i cal value of the area, it should be granted the sta tus of a na ture re serve or na tional park. Geomorphological and karstological research within the mas sif should be con tin ued as it rep re sents a type of karst found also in other parts of Al ba nia. This type of karst area is of great eco nomic (ground wa ter re serves) and nat u ral pro tec tion (en vi ron men tal) im por tance. Key words: karst geo mor phol ogy, moun tain karst, cen tral Al ba nia, Mali me Gropa mas sif.
The mid-al ti tude moun tain mas sif of Mali me Gropa is lo cated in the cen tral part of Al ba n... more The mid-al ti tude moun tain mas sif of Mali me Gropa is lo cated in the cen tral part of Al ba nia, rises to an al ti tude of 1500-1800 m a.s.l., is com posed mostly of Me so zoic lime stone, and is char ac ter ized by ex ten sive sur face karst de vel op ment. The karst re lief is dom i nated by "doline" mor phol ogy in clud ing "po lyg o nal" karst. De tailed geomorphological anal y sis of the west ern part of the Mali me Gropa mas sif (so-called West ern Mas sif) by means of GIS meth ods is used to de ter mine and ex plain the morphometric and mor pho log i cal di ver sity of the area's to pog ra phy. Based on a ho mo ge ne ity cri te rion, a num ber of geomorphological units with spe cific kinds of karst re lief have been dis tin guished within the mas sif. The dif fer ences in karst sculp ture con cern the size (di am e ter) of dolines and de pres sions, their depth, shape and sym me try, ori en ta tion, den sity of oc cur rence and spa tial pat tern, which pro vide the ba sis for dis tin guish ing geomorphological units. The spa tial dif fer en ti a tion of the karst re lief is ex plained by the in flu ence of fac tors which are evo lu tion ary (geo log i cal and geomorphological evo lu tion of the mas sif), hypsometric (al ti tude dif fer ence of ter rains) and geomorphologic-struc tural (in cli na tion of the slopes and layers). The rel a tively poor ex pres sion of open karst con duits (i.e. caves and ver ti cal shafts) on the sur face of the mas sif may result from the rel a tive im ma tu rity of the epikarst zone, the wide spread oc cur rence of re sid ual cover on the pla teau, and the ac cu mu la tion of large amounts of clay ma te rial in dolines and de pres sions. De tailed hydrogeological stud ies show, how ever, high karst per me abil ity and dom i nance of con duit flow. Con sid er ing the high geomorphological land scape and eco log i cal value of the area, it should be granted the sta tus of a na ture re serve or na tional park. Geomorphological and karstological research within the mas sif should be con tin ued as it rep re sents a type of karst found also in other parts of Al ba nia. This type of karst area is of great eco nomic (ground wa ter re serves) and nat u ral pro tec tion (en vi ron men tal) im por tance. Key words: karst geo mor phol ogy, moun tain karst, cen tral Al ba nia, Mali me Gropa mas sif.
The organized hydrogeological investigations in Albania started in 1959, while general hydrogeolo... more The organized hydrogeological investigations in Albania started in 1959, while general hydrogeological prospecting started there in 1963 and finished in 1974. One of the hydrogeological prospecting main goals was the compilation of the hydrogeological map of Albania at a scale of 1:200,000. Hydrogeological maps may differ in content, representation, scale and format, but two main types of these maps are principal: general and/or special hydrogeological maps. The aforementioned map was published in 1985 following principles for general hydrogeological maps as defined in 1970 by IAH/UNESCO, which were subsequently adopted, but also further developed. The areal colours show hydrogeological classification of rocks and the basic elements shown on the map are hydrogeological units. Geological pattern forms the map background, while lithologic units are differed by green colour hatches. Different aquifers and hydrogeological structures identified during the investigations are also shown he...
The southern Albania coast, about 147 km-long, represents one of the most developing areas of the... more The southern Albania coast, about 147 km-long, represents one of the most developing areas of the country for tourism and local economy. There are, however, serious problems as concerns water supply. Due to the karst nature of the territory, groundwater is the only remaining promising resource. The aim of this research is to describe the main characteristics and influencing factors on karst groundwater quantity and quality and the drainage type in the study area. In general, the area is very rich on groundwater resources; the estimated total renewable karst water resources are about 21.5 m3/s. Based upon the different geological-structural conditions and the development of karst processes, their drainage occurs in different ways. Five main types of drainage can be distinguished along the Southern Albanian coast: a) overflowing springs, b) descending springs, c) coastal springs, d) submarine spring, and e) diffuse drainage. As regards water quality, only the overflowing springs have ...
<p>The mid-altitude mountain massif of Mali me Gropa in the central part of Albania... more <p>The mid-altitude mountain massif of Mali me Gropa in the central part of Albania rises to an altitude of 1500–1800 m above sea level, is composed mostly of Mesozoic limestone. It is characterized by very extensive surface karst development dominated by dolines, distribution of which creates the polygonal pattern. This study provides a detailed field and GIS-based geomorphological analysis of the western part of Mali me Gropa massif aimed to determine and explain the morphometric and morphological diversity of the relief. Using the homogeneity criterion, a number of geomorphological units with specific varieties of karst relief have been distinguished. The differences concern the size (diameter) of the forms (dolines and depressions), their depth, shape and symmetry, orientation, the density of occurrence and the spatial pattern. The differentiation of the karst relief is explained by the influence of such factors as: evolutionary (geological and geomorphological evolution of the massif), hypsometric (altitude differentiation of terrains) and geomorphologic-structural (inclination of the slopes and layers). The relatively poor expression of open karst conduits (i.e. caves and vertical shafts) on the surface of the massif may result from relative immaturity of the epikarst zone, the widespread occurrence of residual cover on the plateau, and the accumulation of large amounts of clay material in dolines and depressions. Detailed hydrogeological studies show, however, high karst permeability and dominance of conduit flow. Geomorphological and karstological research of the massif should be continued as it represents a type of karst massif found also in other parts of Albania and the entire Mediterranean region. Karst areas of this type are of great economic (large reservoirs of good quality water) and nature protection (specific environment) importance.</p><p> </p>
Korça intermountain basin is the largest of its kind in Albania and from the hydrogeological poin... more Korça intermountain basin is the largest of its kind in Albania and from the hydrogeological point of view represents a semiclosed intermountain basin developed in Pliocene-Holocene granular unconsolidated deposits, which maximal thickness is about 300 m. The aquifer consists of intergranular gravelly to sandy layers containing artesian groundwater and the drilling wells are free flowing on most of the basin surface. The main recharge of the intergranular aquifer comes mainly from the rivers and torrents flowing from mountain gorges around the Korça Plain. The natural groundwater drainage of Korça basin is realized through the vertical leakage in the area of the former Maliq marsh. Hydrochemistry of the aquifers show the presence of four main hydrochemical facies which are related mainly to the hydrochemistry of the recharge sources and to the solution processes and ion exchange. In the central part of the basin the water supply wells of the cities Korça and Maliq are located. The natural renewable groundwater resources of the basin are relatively restricted, but the volume resources (or static water resources) are abundant (about 1.1 × 10-9 m 3). The perspective of their exploitation is very important, but respecting the "basin yield" concept that is defined as the maximum rate of withdrawal that can be sustained by the hydrogeological system of groundwater basin without causing unacceptable changes to any other environmental component of the basin. To face the problems related to the intensification of the groundwater pumping systematic observations of the hydraulic reaction of the basin and of the possible groundwater quality deterioration and other negative environmental impacts must be organized. The purpose of the present study is for the first time to analyze the abundant basin wide hydrogeological data and to evaluate: (1) geometry and hydraulic parameters of the aquifers: (2) groundwater hydrodynamic conditions; (3) their chemical composition and (4) the natural groundwater resources and the possibility to intensify the groundwater pumping in close relation to the environmental impact.
The municipal water supply, related mainly to the cities of Albanian, began to develop in the sec... more The municipal water supply, related mainly to the cities of Albanian, began to develop in the second half of the 19th century and much intensively after 1945. Today the reported mean water production for the cities, on average, is about 300 l/capita/d including drinking and industrial water supply. The territory of Albania consists of uneven distribution of very heterogeneous aquifers conditioning the reach variety of the municipal water supply solutions. In this article are analyzed and classified the hydrogeological aspects of water supply sources of the settlements, which are summarized in five groups: (a) Wells in alluvial intergranular aquifers; (b) karst springs; (c) wells in karst aquifers; (d) springs in fissured rocks, and (e) mixed water sources. For each group of the water supply sources the main concerns regarding the quantity and quality problems are analyzed facilitated by the description of a variety of representative examples of different situations. Based on the gai...
The diversity of ground water chemistry in the Peshkopi gypsum karst area may be related to its s... more The diversity of ground water chemistry in the Peshkopi gypsum karst area may be related to its set ting within the tectonically active Korab Mas sif (Al ba nia), as shown by field tests of tem per a ture, pH, Eh and EC, and sam pling of the wa ters for chem ical anal y sis (both ma jor and trace com po nents) from cool brack ish springs and min er al ized ther mal springs. The re la tion ship be tween the chem i cal com po si tion of the spring wa ters and of the res er voir rocks was elu ci dated by anal y sis of anhydrite-gyp sum rocks and ex per i men tal dis so lu tion of an anhydrite-gyp sum sam ple. Sta tis ti cal anal y sis was used in the pro cess ing of hydrochemical data. Com par i son of an a lyt i cal re sults from 2019 with ear lier data in di cates compositional stabil ity of the groundwaters over time. Our re sults to gether with sta tis ti cal anal y sis of the hydrochemical data sup port an ear lier hy poth e sis of two sys tems of ground wa ter cir cu la tion within the anhydrite-gyp sum de pos its of the Peshkopi re gion. A shallow cir cu la tion sys tem in volves cold (10-14°C), mainly brack ish SO 4-Ca wa ters with very low con cen tra tions of Na + and Clions, re flect ing their for ma tion in a sul phate rock en vi ron ment that prob a bly cor re sponds spa tially with a gyp sum layer formed by hydration of anhydrite in the near-sur face zone. A deep cir cu la tion sys tem con di tioned, inter alia, by the pres ence of a large fault, brings to the sur face wa ter at up to 44°C, sat u rated with H 2 S, min er al ized, of the SO 4-Ca type with an increased con tent of Na, K, HCO 3 , Cl, BO 3 and SiO 2. The chem i cal com po si tion of these wa ters, re gard less of the pres ence of large amounts of sulphates, is sig nif i cantly dif fer ent and sug gests the in flu ence of other fac tors on their for ma tion, such as slow cir cu la tion, con tact with flysch rocks in the fault zone and the mix ing of deep and near-sur face wa ters in the fi nal part of their as cent to the sur face. Key words: gyp sum karst, ground wa ter shal low and deep cir cu la tion sys tems, wa ter chem i cal com po si tion, ther mal springs, Al ba nia.
The diversity of ground water chemistry in the Peshkopi gypsum karst area may be related to its s... more The diversity of ground water chemistry in the Peshkopi gypsum karst area may be related to its set ting within the tectonically active Korab Mas sif (Al ba nia), as shown by field tests of tem per a ture, pH, Eh and EC, and sam pling of the wa ters for chem ical anal y sis (both ma jor and trace com po nents) from cool brack ish springs and min er al ized ther mal springs. The re la tion ship be tween the chem i cal com po si tion of the spring wa ters and of the res er voir rocks was elu ci dated by anal y sis of anhydrite-gyp sum rocks and ex per i men tal dis so lu tion of an anhydrite-gyp sum sam ple. Sta tis ti cal anal y sis was used in the pro cess ing of hydrochemical data. Com par i son of an a lyt i cal re sults from 2019 with ear lier data in di cates compositional stabil ity of the groundwaters over time. Our re sults to gether with sta tis ti cal anal y sis of the hydrochemical data sup port an ear lier hy poth e sis of two sys tems of ground wa ter cir cu la tion within the anhydrite-gyp sum de pos its of the Peshkopi re gion. A shallow cir cu la tion sys tem in volves cold (10-14°C), mainly brack ish SO 4-Ca wa ters with very low con cen tra tions of Na + and Clions, re flect ing their for ma tion in a sul phate rock en vi ron ment that prob a bly cor re sponds spa tially with a gyp sum layer formed by hydration of anhydrite in the near-sur face zone. A deep cir cu la tion sys tem con di tioned, inter alia, by the pres ence of a large fault, brings to the sur face wa ter at up to 44°C, sat u rated with H 2 S, min er al ized, of the SO 4-Ca type with an increased con tent of Na, K, HCO 3 , Cl, BO 3 and SiO 2. The chem i cal com po si tion of these wa ters, re gard less of the pres ence of large amounts of sulphates, is sig nif i cantly dif fer ent and sug gests the in flu ence of other fac tors on their for ma tion, such as slow cir cu la tion, con tact with flysch rocks in the fault zone and the mix ing of deep and near-sur face wa ters in the fi nal part of their as cent to the sur face. Key words: gyp sum karst, ground wa ter shal low and deep cir cu la tion sys tems, wa ter chem i cal com po si tion, ther mal springs, Al ba nia.
The municipal water supply, mainly related with the cities, in Albanian began to develop in the s... more The municipal water supply, mainly related with the cities, in Albanian began to develop in the second half of the 19th century and particularly after 1945. Today, the total capacity of water supply systems mainly for the citiescorresponds to an average rate about 300 l/day per capita. The territory of Albania consists of uneven distribution of very heterogeneous aquifers. In this article are classified and analyzed the water supply sources of the settlements, which are summarized in five groups: a) Wells in alluvial intergranular aquifers; b) karst springs; c) wells in karst aquifers; d) springs in fissured rocks, and e) mixed water sources like: karst springs, drilling wells and surface water. For each group of the water supply sources are analyzed the main concerns regarding the quantity and quality and many examples are given how are solved the problems. Beside this, some recommendations also are given for a sustainable groundwater water supply management, especially related to ...
Two big lakes are located in southeastern Albania, near the border with Former Yugoslav Republic ... more Two big lakes are located in southeastern Albania, near the border with Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Prespa Lake at elevation 850 m above sea level (a.s.l.), and Ohrid Lake at elevation 695 m a.s.l. Mali Thate – Galichica Mountain, which is constructed mainly of carbonate karstfied formations, separates them. In the Tushemisht – Sveti Naum sector of Ohrid Lake, situated on both sites of Albanian – FYROM border, big springs issue that are supposed to be fed by Prespa Lake by the underground karst flow Environmental isotope data of Deuterium and 18O have been used to identify the origin of the recharge of Tushemisht springs situated in Albanian territory. The results of this study indicate that 52 % of the mean discharge of Tushemisht springs is recharged from Prespa Lake, and 48 % of their discharge is recharged from the infiltration of the precipitation in Mali Thate – Galichica Mountain.
The mid-al ti tude moun tain mas sif of Mali me Gropa is lo cated in the cen tral part of Al ba n... more The mid-al ti tude moun tain mas sif of Mali me Gropa is lo cated in the cen tral part of Al ba nia, rises to an al ti tude of 1500-1800 m a.s.l., is com posed mostly of Me so zoic lime stone, and is char ac ter ized by ex ten sive sur face karst de vel op ment. The karst re lief is dom i nated by "doline" mor phol ogy in clud ing "po lyg o nal" karst. De tailed geomorphological anal y sis of the west ern part of the Mali me Gropa mas sif (so-called West ern Mas sif) by means of GIS meth ods is used to de ter mine and ex plain the morphometric and mor pho log i cal di ver sity of the area's to pog ra phy. Based on a ho mo ge ne ity cri te rion, a num ber of geomorphological units with spe cific kinds of karst re lief have been dis tin guished within the mas sif. The dif fer ences in karst sculp ture con cern the size (di am e ter) of dolines and de pres sions, their depth, shape and sym me try, ori en ta tion, den sity of oc cur rence and spa tial pat tern, which pro vide the ba sis for dis tin guish ing geomorphological units. The spa tial dif fer en ti a tion of the karst re lief is ex plained by the in flu ence of fac tors which are evo lu tion ary (geo log i cal and geomorphological evo lu tion of the mas sif), hypsometric (al ti tude dif fer ence of ter rains) and geomorphologic-struc tural (in cli na tion of the slopes and layers). The rel a tively poor ex pres sion of open karst con duits (i.e. caves and ver ti cal shafts) on the sur face of the mas sif may result from the rel a tive im ma tu rity of the epikarst zone, the wide spread oc cur rence of re sid ual cover on the pla teau, and the ac cu mu la tion of large amounts of clay ma te rial in dolines and de pres sions. De tailed hydrogeological stud ies show, how ever, high karst per me abil ity and dom i nance of con duit flow. Con sid er ing the high geomorphological land scape and eco log i cal value of the area, it should be granted the sta tus of a na ture re serve or na tional park. Geomorphological and karstological research within the mas sif should be con tin ued as it rep re sents a type of karst found also in other parts of Al ba nia. This type of karst area is of great eco nomic (ground wa ter re serves) and nat u ral pro tec tion (en vi ron men tal) im por tance. Key words: karst geo mor phol ogy, moun tain karst, cen tral Al ba nia, Mali me Gropa mas sif.
The mid-al ti tude moun tain mas sif of Mali me Gropa is lo cated in the cen tral part of Al ba n... more The mid-al ti tude moun tain mas sif of Mali me Gropa is lo cated in the cen tral part of Al ba nia, rises to an al ti tude of 1500-1800 m a.s.l., is com posed mostly of Me so zoic lime stone, and is char ac ter ized by ex ten sive sur face karst de vel op ment. The karst re lief is dom i nated by "doline" mor phol ogy in clud ing "po lyg o nal" karst. De tailed geomorphological anal y sis of the west ern part of the Mali me Gropa mas sif (so-called West ern Mas sif) by means of GIS meth ods is used to de ter mine and ex plain the morphometric and mor pho log i cal di ver sity of the area's to pog ra phy. Based on a ho mo ge ne ity cri te rion, a num ber of geomorphological units with spe cific kinds of karst re lief have been dis tin guished within the mas sif. The dif fer ences in karst sculp ture con cern the size (di am e ter) of dolines and de pres sions, their depth, shape and sym me try, ori en ta tion, den sity of oc cur rence and spa tial pat tern, which pro vide the ba sis for dis tin guish ing geomorphological units. The spa tial dif fer en ti a tion of the karst re lief is ex plained by the in flu ence of fac tors which are evo lu tion ary (geo log i cal and geomorphological evo lu tion of the mas sif), hypsometric (al ti tude dif fer ence of ter rains) and geomorphologic-struc tural (in cli na tion of the slopes and layers). The rel a tively poor ex pres sion of open karst con duits (i.e. caves and ver ti cal shafts) on the sur face of the mas sif may result from the rel a tive im ma tu rity of the epikarst zone, the wide spread oc cur rence of re sid ual cover on the pla teau, and the ac cu mu la tion of large amounts of clay ma te rial in dolines and de pres sions. De tailed hydrogeological stud ies show, how ever, high karst per me abil ity and dom i nance of con duit flow. Con sid er ing the high geomorphological land scape and eco log i cal value of the area, it should be granted the sta tus of a na ture re serve or na tional park. Geomorphological and karstological research within the mas sif should be con tin ued as it rep re sents a type of karst found also in other parts of Al ba nia. This type of karst area is of great eco nomic (ground wa ter re serves) and nat u ral pro tec tion (en vi ron men tal) im por tance. Key words: karst geo mor phol ogy, moun tain karst, cen tral Al ba nia, Mali me Gropa mas sif.
The organized hydrogeological investigations in Albania started in 1959, while general hydrogeolo... more The organized hydrogeological investigations in Albania started in 1959, while general hydrogeological prospecting started there in 1963 and finished in 1974. One of the hydrogeological prospecting main goals was the compilation of the hydrogeological map of Albania at a scale of 1:200,000. Hydrogeological maps may differ in content, representation, scale and format, but two main types of these maps are principal: general and/or special hydrogeological maps. The aforementioned map was published in 1985 following principles for general hydrogeological maps as defined in 1970 by IAH/UNESCO, which were subsequently adopted, but also further developed. The areal colours show hydrogeological classification of rocks and the basic elements shown on the map are hydrogeological units. Geological pattern forms the map background, while lithologic units are differed by green colour hatches. Different aquifers and hydrogeological structures identified during the investigations are also shown he...
The southern Albania coast, about 147 km-long, represents one of the most developing areas of the... more The southern Albania coast, about 147 km-long, represents one of the most developing areas of the country for tourism and local economy. There are, however, serious problems as concerns water supply. Due to the karst nature of the territory, groundwater is the only remaining promising resource. The aim of this research is to describe the main characteristics and influencing factors on karst groundwater quantity and quality and the drainage type in the study area. In general, the area is very rich on groundwater resources; the estimated total renewable karst water resources are about 21.5 m3/s. Based upon the different geological-structural conditions and the development of karst processes, their drainage occurs in different ways. Five main types of drainage can be distinguished along the Southern Albanian coast: a) overflowing springs, b) descending springs, c) coastal springs, d) submarine spring, and e) diffuse drainage. As regards water quality, only the overflowing springs have ...
<p>The mid-altitude mountain massif of Mali me Gropa in the central part of Albania... more <p>The mid-altitude mountain massif of Mali me Gropa in the central part of Albania rises to an altitude of 1500–1800 m above sea level, is composed mostly of Mesozoic limestone. It is characterized by very extensive surface karst development dominated by dolines, distribution of which creates the polygonal pattern. This study provides a detailed field and GIS-based geomorphological analysis of the western part of Mali me Gropa massif aimed to determine and explain the morphometric and morphological diversity of the relief. Using the homogeneity criterion, a number of geomorphological units with specific varieties of karst relief have been distinguished. The differences concern the size (diameter) of the forms (dolines and depressions), their depth, shape and symmetry, orientation, the density of occurrence and the spatial pattern. The differentiation of the karst relief is explained by the influence of such factors as: evolutionary (geological and geomorphological evolution of the massif), hypsometric (altitude differentiation of terrains) and geomorphologic-structural (inclination of the slopes and layers). The relatively poor expression of open karst conduits (i.e. caves and vertical shafts) on the surface of the massif may result from relative immaturity of the epikarst zone, the widespread occurrence of residual cover on the plateau, and the accumulation of large amounts of clay material in dolines and depressions. Detailed hydrogeological studies show, however, high karst permeability and dominance of conduit flow. Geomorphological and karstological research of the massif should be continued as it represents a type of karst massif found also in other parts of Albania and the entire Mediterranean region. Karst areas of this type are of great economic (large reservoirs of good quality water) and nature protection (specific environment) importance.</p><p> </p>
Uploads
Papers by Romeo Eftimi