For Special Protection Areas (SPA),
Proposed Sites for Community Importance (pSCI),
Sites of Community Importance (SCI) and
for Special Areas of Conservation (SAC)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• 1. SITE IDENTIFICATION
• 2. SITE LOCATION
• 3. ECOLOGICAL INFORMATION
• 4. SITE DESCRIPTION
• 5. SITE PROTECTION STATUS
• 6. SITE MANAGEMENT
• 7. MAP OF THE SITE

1. SITE IDENTIFICATION

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1.1 Type

B

1.2 Site code

GR4220036

1.3 Site name

THALASSIA PERIOCHI KOLOUMVO

1.4 First Compilation date

2016-12

1.5 Update date

2020-07

1.6 Respondent:

Name/Organisation:	Υπουργείο Περιβάλλοντος και Ενέργειας
Address:
Email:

1.7 Site indication and designation / classification dates

Date site proposed as SCI:	No information provided
Date site confirmed as SCI:	No information provided
Date site designated as SAC:	No information provided
National legal reference of SAC designation:	Law 3937/29-3-11 (OJ 60 A)

2. SITE LOCATION

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2.1 Site-centre location [decimal degrees]:

Longitude:	25.485850
Latitude:	36.527825

2.2 Area [ha]

5010.3700

2.3 Marine area [%]

100.0000

2.4 Sitelength [km] (optional):

No information provided

2.5 Administrative region code and name

NUTS level 2 code	Region Name
GR42	Notio Aigaio

2.6 Biogeographical Region(s)

Marine Mediterranean

(0.00 %)

3. ECOLOGICAL INFORMATION

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3.1 Habitat types present on the site and assessment for them

Annex I Habitat types						Site assessment
Code	PF	NP	Cover [ha]	Cave [number]	Data quality	A|B|C|D	A|B|C
						Representativity	Relative Surface	Conservation	Global
1110			4008	0.00	P
1170			0	0.00	P
1180			1002	0.00	G	A	B	A	A

• PF: for the habitat types that can have a non-priority as well as a priority form (6210, 7130, 9430) enter "X" in the column PF to indicate the priority form.
• NP: in case that a habitat type no longer exists in the site enter: x (optional)
• Cover: decimal values can be entered
• Caves: for habitat types 8310, 8330 (caves) enter the number of caves if estimated surface is not available.
• Data quality: G = 'Good' (e.g. based on surveys); M = 'Moderate' (e.g. based on partial data with some extrapolation); P = 'Poor' (e.g. rough estimation)

3.2 Species referred to in Article 4 of Directive 2009/147/EC and listed in Annex II of Directive 92/43/EEC and site evaluation for them

No species are reported for the site

3.3 Other important species of flora and fauna (optional)

No information provided

4. SITE DESCRIPTION

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4.1 General site character

Habitat class	% Cover
Total Habitat Cover	0

Other Site Characteristics

The submarine volcano of Kolumbo, which occurs 7km NE off Santorini island, belongs to the Santorini volcanic group (also comprising Christiana, Nea Kameni, and Palea Kameni, along an axis of NE–SW direction); The Kolumbo volcanic chain comprises over 20 submarine cones of varying sizes, in which Kolumbo is the largest one; The volcanic chain comprising by craters and domes, lies within a rift in a basinal area which is rather flat and featureless with a maximum depth of approximately 450m; Most of these volcanic cones are circular or concave with abrupt, steep slopes, some have well-defined craters, whereas others are dome-shaped; The summits of the cones lie between 130 and 370m depth with the majority in the depth range 200–350m; Kolumbo is a 3 km diameter cone with a 1500 m wide crater, a crater rim as shallow as 18m below sea level in the south-west, and a flat crater floor 505 m in depth below sea level (Nomikou et al. 2012; 2013; and references therein). High temperature venting with fluid temperatures up to 220oC from vent chimneys as well as lower-temperature chimneys and vents (with fluids up to 70oC) were discovered at the northern part of the Kolumbo crater (Sigurdsson 2006). The exterior of most chimneys as well as large areas on the Kolumbo floor are covered with white, grey, and reddish/orange filamentous bacteria microbial mats. The acidic shallow-submarine Kolumbo hydrothermal vents nourish marine ecosystems in which nitrifying Archaea are important and suggest ferrihydrite-type Fe31-(hydrated)-oxyhydroxides in associated low-temperature iron mats are formed by anaerobic Fe21-oxidation, dependent on microbially produced nitrate (Kilias et al 2013).

4.2 Quality and importance

Recent oceanographic surveys revealed the presence of underwater hydrothermal vents and structures, confirming the site’s high representativity as Habitat Type 1180 (Submarine structures made by leaking gases). On the crater floor of Kolumbo (500 m) an active hydrothermal vent field occurs, first discovered in 2006, where a Kuroko-style massive sulfide deposit is currently being formed; Only a handful of such deposits have been identified in the world's oceans and they are of great interest because of their higher gold and silver contents; New ROV exploration of the Kolumbo hydrothermal field led to the discovery of the largest vent structure yet found at the volcano; In the northern part of the crater a 4 m-high, bacteria-draped vent, nicknamed “Poet's candle”, rises above the sediment covered floor; An interesting characteristic of the Kolumbo hydrothermal vents is the active discharge of gas bubbles composed of 99% CO2 together with high temperature fluids (around 220°C); This active vent field is unique to relatively shallow water volcanic centers in subduction zone environments (Nomikou et al. 2012; 2013; and references therein). The site also comprises extended detritic and muddy sediments (Habitat Type 1110). No ecological assessment has yet been performed for this area.

4.3 Threats, pressures and activities with impacts on the site

The most important impacts and activities with high effect on the site

4.4 Ownership (optional)

No information provided

4.5 Documentation (optional)

[1] Nomikou P, Carey S, Papanikolaou D, Croff Bell K, Sakellariou D, Alexandri M, Bejelou K, 2012. Submarine volcanoes of the Kolumbo volcanic zone NE of Santorini Caldera, Greece. Global and Planetary Change 90–91 (2012), 135–151. [2] Nomikou P, Papanik

5. SITE PROTECTION STATUS

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6. SITE MANAGEMENT

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6.1 Body(ies) responsible for the site management:

No information provided

6.2 Management Plan(s):

An actual management plan does exist:

	Yes
	No, but in preparation
X	No

6.3 Conservation measures (optional)

No information provided

 

7. MAP OF THE SITE

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SITE DISPLAY