I think it is pretty safe to say that today was the best day I have ever had as a geologist. I am hiking and driving around Cyprus. This island is a real paradise for geologists. I highly recommend to visit Cyprus if you are interested in spectacular and quite easily accessible geology. Here is the list of geological stuff I saw today:
mélange
mass wasting (several nice examples)
chloritic green lava
amphibolite
trachyte with sanidine phenocrysts
pillow lava (I saw pillow lava in three different locations!)
slickenside (at least three sites)
serpentinite
serpentinized harzburgite
mudstone (several locations)
thrust fault
quartz and chalcedony veins
earthquake-damaged houses
river-flooded road
chert
calcarenite
marl
bentonite
calcite druse
folds in several locations
fluvial sediments (conglomerate) in several locations
gabbro and diabase clasts in conglomerate
sandstone
limestone breccia
lava flows
amygdaloidal and porphyraceous trachybasalt (as lava and pillows)
It took the whole day which I had at my disposal because I did it all alone. It’s easier that way because I had no distractions and didn’t have to worry about someone else who most likely isn’t addicted to geology.
I bragged about pillow basalts. To back my words I will post some photos of the pillows I saw today:
Olivine tholeiitic pillows near Fasoula (SW part of Cyprus).
Triassic pillow basalt (actually trachybasalt) at the southwestern coast of Cyprus (1 km east of Petra tou Romiou).
The same outcrop 1 km east of Petra Tou Romiou.
Further reading
Edwards, S., Hudson-Edwards, K., Cann, J., Malpas, J. & Xenophontos, C. (2010). Cyprus (Classic Geology in Europe)
Greensmith, Trevor (1994). Geologists’ Association Guides: Southern Cyprus No. 50 (Geologists’ Association Guides)
Greetings – I am living in cyprus and have the book you mentioned – a delightful read even for us non-geologists with more than a passing interest- I urge you – for my own edification – to post more photos and explanations of the items on the list above, if you have them! I’m headed to Souskiou this weekend for archeological reasons – and will be on the lookout for radiolarian cherts. Thanks so much!
Thanks for the comment. Most of these things listed above in my opinion do not have enough story associated with them to justify separate posts. In the long run I hope some of them will find their places in posts but when this will happen is unknown to myself also. Have fun and enjoy Cyprus. I would love to live in a country which is geologically as versatile as Cyprus is.
What is the name of the book you mentioned please? i am in Cyprus at the moment and would like to look round in a more knowledgable way than I have so far.
There are now links to two good books (on Amazon) under the heading “Further reading” at the footer of this post. I have these books. They are good reading if you want to know more about the geology of Cyprus.
great thanks