Cyprus Itinerary, March 2015
Viewpoint before Doros, B8 Road. Stop to view Troodos Massif and
surrounding sedimentary cover; gain understanding of relative
disposition of geological units and structures; a first look at Miocene
Chalks.
Victoria Bridge Section, Troodos Mountains, ~4 km outside Troodos
Village. Section in mantle harzburgites and lower crustal massive
dunites; contact between mantle and lower crustal rocks (Moho); mantle
fabrics, study of mantle and lower crustal dunite hand specimens; seawater
circulation through mantle, and alteration.
Roadside Section, B8 road ~ 3.5 km outside Troodos Village. Layered
gabbros of lower oceanic crust; magma chamber crystal fractionation
and settling, igneous mineral layering; structure of oceanic crust.
Troodos Village. Lunch, and shopping; car-park fruit seller
(recommended for lovely local produce).
Roadside Sections, Amiandos Road outside Troodos Village by
campsite. Sections in mantle harzburgites; mantle mineralogy; mantle
tectonic fabrics and mantle diapirism; pyroxenite back-veining into
mantle; relative timing of veining; mantle landscapes.
Pano Amiandos Viewpoint. Mantle alteration and serpentinisation;
mechanism of serpentinisation; asbestos veining; possible rodingite
exposures; consequences of mantle serpentinisation.
E110 Road Approaching Yerassa: Roadside Section in Pachna/Lefkara
Chalks; fold and thrust structures of theYerassa fold belt; disposition of
sediments over Troodos oceanic crust; timing of events; spectacular wild
orchid meadows with many different orchid species.
Palaichori Town: Roadside Section; sheeted dykes of the upper oceanic
crust; nature of the dyke complex; contacts of dykes and chilled margins;
dyke mineralogy and alteration; chemistry of the dykes; intrusive
plagiogranites and crustal magma reservoirs; magma differentiation and
evolution.
Apliki Village: Roadside Section. Section showing ocean crust
hydrothermal conduits and passageways; black smoker morphology and
mineralisation; hydrothermal minerals, epidosites.
Arediou Town: exquisite Cypriot traditional patisserie; Lunch in Arediou
Town.
Klirou Bridge, near Arediou. Viewpoint for geological overview (difficult,
optional); gorge and riverside section in upper oceanic crust; pillow lavas
and feeder dykes; morphology of pillow lavas; composition of pillow
lavas and alteration; feeder-dykes, morphology, composition, intrusion;
hyaloclastites, and lava tubes; sheet-flows and morphology.
Arediou-Episkopeio Road: en-route views of Late Miocene-Pliocene-
Pleistocene sediments of the Mesaoria Basin, and their erosional
features. (possible photo-stop if time).
Mathiatis Village. Quick stop on way home, to view former Mathiatis
open-cast copper mine; pillow lava mineralisation, exhalative sulphide
emplacement; sulphide minerals, especially marcasite.
F128 Akrounta Dhierona Road: Roadside Section in tectonic melange;
multiple lithologies, serpentinite shears, juxtaposition of exotic oceanic
crustal sections; Roadside Section, in multiple intrusive dykes; crosscutting
intrusives, varying ages of intrusion, magmagenesis and intrusion
during transform tectonism; Roadside Section in massive serpentinite
shear zones; orientation of tectonic activity; cataclastites and cataclastic
minerals; spectacular mountain road with awesome views.
Kato Drys: Lunch in Platanus Restaurant.
F111 Road, above Pano Lefkara; Roadside section, chalk contact on
pillow lava and volcaniclastics; tectonised volcanics and volcaniclastics;
transform tectonic shear planes.
Kato Drys: hilltop viewpoint; spectacular views of fossil transform fault;
views of the pillow lava-chalk unconformity; views of the exhumed
ancient sea-floor.
Lageia Village: Roadside section: spectacular debrites and transform
fault scarp landslides; umbers and iron-rich sediments; sea-floor
tectonics and sedimentation.
Kourion: Greek-Roman City Kingdom Ancient Site; restored ancient city
kingdom site with long history of occupation; Pachna Formation
fossiliferous reef limestones; raised beach and sea-caves cut into
Pachna Formation carbonates; evidence of massive on-going regional
tectonic instability; magnificent wild flower meadows;
Aphrodite’s Rock View Point: photo stop;
Aphrodite’s Rock beach and roadside sections; Mamonia Terrane
olistoliths of Moni Formation; reworked Tethyan shelf clastics; Tethyan
Ocean floor Volcanics of Mamonia Terrane; Tethyan Ocean floor
Radiolarites
Paphos: lunch at Pelikan Restaurant.
Paphos: World Heritage Paphos Mosaics Ancient Site; magnificent
Roman mosaics, extensive restored site; wild flower meadows.
Elediou: Roadside sections in Miocene Messinian Kalavassos Formation
gypsiferous sediments and evaporites; Messinian Salinity Crisis
alabasters; massive gypsum deposits; exposures of giant twinned
gypsum crystals.
E606 road south of Axylou: Mamonia Terrane shear sections on
roadside (only if time).
Pyrgos Town: volcano sedimentary units and Perapedhi Formation
umbers and radiolarites; post-volcanic sedimentary cover; nature of
ancient ocean floor and post-volcanic processes.
Governor’s Beach: Cliff sections in Lefkara Formation chalks; chalk
sedimentation and characteristics; evidence of convergence-related
tectonic activity; calcretes and beach-rock.
E105 road, Four Winds Taverna: Roadside sections in Lefkara
Formation chalks; chalk sedimentation history; calciturbidites; evidence
of onset of basin instability.
Lunch in Four Winds Taverna.
Choirokhitia, Potamos tou Agiou Mina: Gorge and river-cliff sections in
Pliocene debrites; Pachna Formation chalks and reefs; massive debrites
with mega-clasts; exhumed ancient submarine topography; evidence of
basin instability and tectonic uplift; uplift and emergence of Troodos
Massif, and concurrent denudation; erosional conglomerates and
gravels of Pliocene age; stages in the development of the island of
Cyprus; localities with scenic pastoral beauty.
Choirokhitia: World Heritage Neolithic Village site; pre-historic dwelling
site cut into Pachna Formation reef carbonates.