Water composition and minerals equilibria at the Syri i Kalter spring and in the Bistrica river (South Albania)

Syri i Kalter (“Blue Eye” in english) is the name of the largest spring of Albania, situated in the south of the country, not far from the town of Sarande. The spring is located near the tectonic contact between the Mesozoic-Paleogenic Mali i Gjiere carbonate sequence and the Terziary flysch units of the “Ionian Zone” of Albania. The discharge area is characterized by the presence of Triassic evaporites, mainly constituted by gypsum and anhydrite, associated with clay, limestones, dolomite and halite. The spring consists of several discharge points, yielding as a whole an average water flow of about 11 m³/s.