Isotope hydrology study of the major areas of Paramythia and Koroni, Epirus, Greece

The areas under investigation belong to the water district of Epirus in the northwestern part of Greece. Limestones formations are the major costituents of the highlands while recent deposits cover the lowlands. The flowrates of the big karstic springs suggest interrelations between the aquifers formed in the carbonic rocks of different ages as well as between surface and ground waters. Sampling of springs at different elevations with well defined recharge areas established that the altitude effect on the delta(18)O value of groundwaters is uniform in the entire water district of Epirus, namely -0.18 parts per thousand per 100 m. Based on the isotopic composition of surface and ground waters, the origin and the dynamics of groundwaters and the interrelation of the major aquifers between each others or between them and the surface waters were determined.