The Geology of Cyprus Is That U 1 8 1 8 54
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THE GEOLQGY OF C YPRUS . V BELLAMY O F . G S . , . , L ate Director o P ublic orks in C rus f W yp , AND A J JUKES- BROWNE . , B A L ate of the Geological S urvey of Great Britain . P UBLISHED B Y A UTH ORIT Y. PLYMOUTH S WILLIAM BREND N N LTD PRINTER . O S O . , , 1 905 . — No rm In t he follo wing pages t he pron o un we h as b e e n used b ecause t he wh ole o f t h e ori inal m an us cri t has b e en re vis ed alt ere d an d adde d t o b b o th o f us s o t hat we are g p , , y , j ointly re s po n sib le for m os t o f t h e ‘ o pin io ns - Mr. Juk es Brown e h as n o t visit ed n h e s o t Mr Bellam is m ade o t p . y t ione d On t he ot her h and all t h e descri tio ns o f t h e litho lo ical c o m . , p g m ic ro sco ical st ruc ture o f ro ck s as well as c om m e nt o n he fos ils p , s t s h rela i e a e o f the s e ve ral rock - u s - t o t e t v ro are b Mr Juk es Brown e . g g p , y . THE GEOL GY F CYPRU O O S. HAPTER C I . PHYS ICAL FE ATURES A ND GEOLOGIC AL FORMATIONS . THE island of Cyprus is situated in the extreme eastern basin o f the Se a o f Mediterranean , about equally distant from the coast Asia Minor o r Caram an ia on the north and Syria o n the east ; the distance in each c 6 0 m ase being about iles . The island measures about 1 40 miles in length from south - west to - 6 0 t o ' so uth north east and about miles from north , and contains about 3 584 - square miles . The coast line is very irregular , and is indented o f Kr sokho u with several extensive bays , chief which are the y , L On Morphou , Famagusta, arnaca , Akrotiri , and Episkopi . the south coast an irregularly rectangular promontory juts o ut t o the south - west o n L S of as Akrotiri , which is situated the imassol alt L ake , and divides the Episkopi from the Akrotiri bays ; this peninsula - t G culminates to the south eas in Cape ata . At the western extremity the district o f Paphos tapers o ff in a - t o m o f a north westerly direction form the pro ontory the Acam s , terminating in Cape Acamas ; and o n the eastern seaboard south o f Famagusta is another promontory which culminates in the conspicuous o f headland Cape Greco . To the north - east the land trends away to form the remarkable horn 45 like peninsula called the Carpas , which is about miles long and or 8 a o ff never more than 7 miles wide , terminating in Cape Andre s , Klide s which are situated the Islands . as The island may be described divided into two portions , a southern are and a northern , by the great central plains which known as the o r M e saorian o f Messoria plains . These extend from the shores Fam a us ta Ba o n o f u Ba o n g y the east to those Morpho y the west , and 6 0 1 1 are nearly miles long and about 2 to 5 wide . o f They constitute an undulating tract country , whose greatest 3 4 6 8 1 9 altit ude i s reached in the neighbourhood o f Nic o siag which is just under 500 - feet above sea level . These central plains are bounded o n the north by the Kyrenia o f 2500 Mountains , which rise steeply from both flanks to altitudes a nd 3 000 u d a 1 500 m feet, tho gh the wi th of rea above feet is seldo 4 o r 5 On - more than miles . the south and south west is a much larger a o f u h rea mountainous country , incl ding the Machera , the Adelp i , the Tro odo Till ria u Of s and the y Mo ntains . these the highest is Mount ” Tro odo s Chio n is tra u or , sometimes also , but erroneo sly , called Mount 6 t o 5000 O 640 . lympus , feet above the sea Mount Adelphi rises over o f feet , and there are numerous other peaks exceeding an altitude 4000 feet . lo w o f The country is generally given over to the cultivation cereals , t he the upper levels to the growth of the vine , and summits are more or l less c ad in forest trees . i n Prev ous Pub licat io s . The e arliest methodical description of the geology of Cyprus is that u 1 8 1 8 54 . C . 53 by A a dry His explorations were made in the years and , and were published by the Geological Society o f France in His is o n e n o t o f memoir an elaborate , dealing only with the succession fi he u m strati ed rocks so far as co ld distinguish the , but also with the igneous rocks and with the mineral substances found in the island . 1 m i e olo l cal o n o f \ or 3 9 It was acco pan ed by a g g map a scale 2 5 0 O ’ i (l n n car éolo i u e . Essa e te stat miles to an inch) , but it is entitled g g q , and e o n is th refore only a sketch map , based a rough and not very accurate u o f L s rvey the island by de Mas atrie . The island was also visited about this time by the German geologist n o f U ger, who , in collaboration with M . Kotschy , published an account 1 8 65 ff o n t n o f its geology in , i di ering some poin s from the co clusions C u M . a dry . 1 8 8 w n o f 0 . as u o In Mr . R Russell sent o t to report the means obtaining a better water - supply in Cyprus ; the results o f his examina O fi tion were published in a Foreign f ce paper, and in the report of the B i 1 8 1 ritish Associat on for 8 . S v Ber e at o f till later the island was isited by Prof . A . g (now u Cla sthal) , who chiefly studied the massive igneous rocks . His re searches were p ublished in 1 892 in a paper which contains an excellent o f i account the gneous rocks , together with some interesting observa tions o n the sedimentary se rie s j; These will be referred to more ’ M S oc Geol d e Fra n ce s e rie s 2 m i 1 4 —31 4 em t o vi . 9 . , , . , pp . " D e Inse l ern n e r an d V i C F T . Ko sch o ien na . t 8 v . 1 yp . U g y . Ts i erm Min a nd t H itik l V i n a cl . P e r. vo xii . 26 3 en . , . p . PH S ICA FEATURES AND EO O ICA FO M Y L G L G L R ATIONS . 7 the an particularly in sequel , and we are indebted to Dr. J . W . Ev s for t calling our at ention to this memoir . An excellent map of the island having been prepared in 1 8 82 by K . H m Captain H . itchener , this formed a suitable basis for a ore com le t e u p and acc rate geological map , the materials for which were obtained during a residence of five years in Cyprus . The resulting geological map on a scale of 55 m iles to an inch has recently been * issued . Rock specimens taken from the different formations were brought h home and examined in this country , others ave since been sent over o f u by Mr . Nicolls , the present Director P blic Works , so that the following pages embody the results o f observations in the field and the o f t consideration specimens and no es at home . G l l e o og ica Form at ions in Cyp rus . The oldest formation found in Cyprus appears to be partly of u o f b u t Cretaceo s and partly Eocene age , as no fossils have yet been obtained from its older limestones and marbles this is not certain , and u n conseq ently possible error will be avoided by givi g it a local name . “ For this we have chose n Tryp a n ian from Mount Trypa o r Trypa ” o n K re n ian n o n o f Vounos , a summit the y ra ge the northern side the island . Between the Trypan ian limestones and the Tertiary sandstone series t o there seems be a gap and unconformity , and again we are unable to fi x o f the precise age of the deposits which form th e basal part this series .