Thermaic Gulf
40.11666666666722.9Koordinaten: 40 ° 7 ' N, 22 ° 54 ' E
As Thermaic Gulf (Greek Θερμαϊκός Κόλπος ) that sea area of the northern West Aegean is called. It lies between the Chalkidiki Peninsula including the Kassandra peninsula in the East and the east coast of the Greek mainland with the regional districts of Pieria, Imathia and Larisa with the Mount Olympus massif to the west. The golf was (today Thermi ) named after the ancient city of Therma, which was formerly on the Gulf Coast. In the Thermaic Golf flow four rivers (clockwise): Aliakmona, Loudias, Axios ( Vardar ) and Gallikos. The north and east of an imaginary line between the Cape Megalo Emvolo ( Karabonu ) in the southeast and the Cape Vardaris located at the mouth of the Axios in the north-west part is called the Gulf of Thessaloniki. The central part of the Thermaic Gulf ( Gulf, enclosed considered ) is by a line between Cape Epanomi in the east ( west coast of Halkidiki ) and the Cape Atheris delimited to the west by the coast of the Greek mainland and the boundary line to the Gulf of Thessaloniki.
The Thermaic Gulf is a shallow marine area. By the sediment of the rivers, the water depth does not fall even between Cassandra and Pieria below 200 m. In the Gulf of Thessaloniki and at the mouth of Aliakmona and Loudias the water depth is only a maximum of 30 m.
Among the Romans the Gulf ( " Macedonian Golf" ) was under the name Thermaeus or Thermaicus sine ( " Gulf of Therma " ) or Macedonicus sine known.
Since ancient times, the coastline has changed considerably. The ancient city of Pella ( capital of the kingdom of Macedonia ) was 500 BC to the foothills of the Thermaic Gulf. Sediment load of the rivers Axios, Aliakmona, Gallikos and Loudias led to increased siltation of the Gulf and to the decrease in water depth. Over the centuries the northwestern foothills was initially separated from the Thermaic golf as silted lagoon and subsequently final. The shift of the shoreline of 500 BC to 1960 amounted to up to 80 km in the direction of the open sea.
In recent times, this process seems easy to reverse. From 1960 to 1999, the shoreline was receding at a rate of up to 10 cm per year. Thus, the sea has during this period (?) The coastline 2km inland shifted further. The reversal of the silting process was evident by two flooding events, which were unknown in this form before. 1969 there was a flood in which the waters of the Gulf Thermaic reached the houses of the village Kalochori west of Thessaloniki for the first time. This led to the construction of a dike, which was completed in 1973. In addition, the houses were raised in their foundations by 1.5 to 2.0 m. In the winter of 1979/1980 occurred despite the existing dams again a flood of Kalochori.