Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Cyprus

  • Reference work entry
Encyclopedia of European and Asian Regional Geology

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Science ((EESS))

Geography and geological importance

The geology of Cyprus (Fig. 128) is a microcosm of the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East as a whole and has played an important role in the development of plate tectonics theory, especially concerning the formation of ophiolites. Ophiolites are fragments of oceanic crust and mantle exposed on land. Cyprus geology also provides insights into the paleogeography of the Tethys Ocean that once separated the Eurasian and African continents.

Fig. 128
figure 1_1-4020-4495-X_23

Outline map of Cyprus, showing the three main lithotectonic units (from Robertson and Xenophontos, 1993).

Full size image

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 589.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 499.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Bibliography

  • Gass, I.G. (1960) The geology and mineral resources of the Dhali area. Cyprus Geological Survey Department Memoir, 4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gass, I.G. (1968) Is the Troodos massif of Cyprus a fragment of Mesozoic floor? Nature, 220, 39–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henson, F.R.S., Browne, R.V. and McGinty, J. (1949) A synopsis of the stratigraphy and geological history of Cyprus. Quart. J. Geol. Soc. London, 105, 1–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malpas, J., Moores, E.M., Panoyiotou, A. and Xenophontos, C. (eds) (1990) Ophiolites: Oceanic Crustal Analogues. Cyprus Geological Survey Department.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moores, E.M. and Vine, F.J. (1971) The Troodos Massif, Cyprus and other ophiolites as oceanic crust: evaluation and implications. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. London A, 268, 433–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Panayiotou, A. (ed.) (1980) Ophiolites: Proceedings of the Cyprus International Symposium, Cyprus, 1979. Cyprus Geological Survey Department.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, A.H.F. and Xenophontos, C. (1993) Development of concepts concerning the Troodos ophiolite and adjacent units in Cyprus, in: Magmatic Processes and Plate Tectonics (eds H.M. Prichard, T. Alabaster, N.B.W. Harris and C.R. Neary). Geol. Soc. Spec. Publ., 76, 85–119.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, R.A.M. (1959) The geology of the Xeros-Troodos area, Cyprus. Cyprus Geological Survey Department Mem., 1, pp. 1–136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Xenophontos, C. and Malpas, J.G. (eds) (1987). Field Excursion Guidebook. Troodos 87-Ophiolites and Oceanic Lithosphere. Cyprus Geological Survey Department.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dilek, Y. and Moores, E.M. (1990) Regional tectonics of the eastern Mediterranean ophiolite, in Ophiolites: Oceanic Crustal Analogues (eds J. Malpas, E.M. Moores, A. Panayiotou and C. Xenophontos). Cyprus Geological Survey Department, pp. 295–309.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kempler, D. and Ben-Avraham, Z. (1987) The tectonic evolution of the Cyprean arc. Annales Tectonicae, 1, 58–71.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moores, E.M., Robinson, P.T., Malpas, J. and Xenophontos, C. (1984) A model for the origin of the Troodos Massif, Cyprus and other mideast ophiolites. Geology, 12, 500–3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, A.H.F. (1990) Tectonic evolution of Cyprus, in Ophiolites: Oceanic Crustal Analogues (eds J. Malpas, E.M. Moores, A. Panayiotou and C.-Xenophontos). Cyprus Geological Survey Department, pp. 235–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, A.H.F., Clift, P.C., Degnan, P.J. and Jones, G. (1991a) Palaeoceanographic and palaeotectonic evolution of the Eastern Mediterranean Neotethys. Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol., 87, 289–343.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allerton, S. and Vine, F.J. (1987) Spreading structure of the Troodos ophiolite Cyprus: some palaeomagnetic constraints. Geology, 15, 593–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bednarz, U. and Schmincke, H.-U. (1989) Chemical patterns of sub-seafloor alteration and budget of mass transfer in the upper Troodos crust, Cyprus. Contrib. Mineral. and Petrol., 102, 93–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gass, I.G. (1990) Ophiolites and oceanic lithosphere, in Ophiolites: Oceanic Crustal Analogues (eds J. Malpas, E.M. Moores, A. Panayiotou and C. Xenophontos). Cyprus Geological Survey Department, pp. 1–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gillis, K.M. (1990) Patterns and processes of alteration of the lavas and dykes of the Troodos ophiolite, Cyprus. J. Geophys. Res., 95(21), 532–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mukasa, S.B. and Ludden, J.N. (1987) Uranium-lead ages of plagiogranites from the Troodos ophiolite, Cyprus, and their tectonic significance. Geology, 15, 825–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rautenschlein, M., Jenner, G.A., Hertogen, J. et al. (1985) Isotopic and trace element compositions of volcanic glasses from the Akaki Canyon, Cyprus: implications for the origin of the Troodos ophiolite, Cyprus. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 75, 369–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, P.T. and Malpas, J. (1990) The Troodos ophiolite of Cyprus: new perspectives on its origin and emplacement, in Ophiolites: Oceanic Crustal Analogues (eds J. Malpas, E.M. Moores, A. Panayiotou and C. Xenophontos). Cyprus Geological Survey Department, pp. 13–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmincke, H.-U. (1987) Volcanology of the Akaki River Canyon, in Field Excursion Guidebook-Troodos 87-Ophiolites and Oceanic Lithosphere (eds C. Xenophontos and J.G. Malpas). Cyprus Geological Survey Department.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmincke, H.-U. and Bednarz, U. (1990) Pillow, sheet flows and breccia flow volcanoes and volcano-tectonic hydrothermal cycles in the extrusive series of the northeastern Troodos ophiolite, Cyprus, in Ophiolites: Oceanic Crustal Analogues (eds J. Malpas, E.M. Moores, A. Panayiotou, and C. Xenophontos). Cyprus Geological Survey Department, pp. 207–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simonian, K.O. and Gass, I.G. (1978) Arakapas fault belt, Cyprus: a fossil transform belt. Geo. Soc. Am. Bull., 89, 1220–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, G.C. and Vine, F.J. (1989) The physical properties of diabases, gabbros and ultramfic rocks from C.C.S.P. Drill Hole CY-4 at Palekhori, Cyprus, in Cyprus Crustal Study Project, Initial Report, CY-4 (eds Gibson, I.L. et al.). Geo. Surv. Canada Spec. Pap., 88–9, 295–314.

    Google Scholar 

  • Varga, R.J. and Moores, E.M. (1985) Spreading structure of the Troodos ophiolite, Cyprus. Geology, 13, 846–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCallum, J.E. and Robertson, A.H.F. (1990) Pulsed uplift of the Troodos Massif-evidence from the Plio-Pleistocene Mesaoria basin, in Ophiolites: Oceanic Crustal Analogues (eds J. Malpas, E.M. Moores, A. Panayiotou and C. Xenophontos). Cyprus Geological Survey Department, pp. 217–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orszag-Sperber, F. and Ellion, P. (1989) The sedimentary expression of regional tectonic events during the Miocene-Pliocene transition in the southern Cyprus basin. Geol. Mag., 136, 291–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poole, A. and Robertson, A.H.F. (1991) Quaternary uplift and sea-level change at an active plate boundary, Cyprus. J. Geol. Soc. London, 148, 909–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, A.H.F. (1975a) Cyprus umbers: basalt-sediment relationships on a Mesozoic ocean ridge. J. Geol. Soc. London, 131, 511–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, A.H.F. (1975b) Pelagic chalks and calciturbidites from the Lower Tertiary of the Troodos Massif. J. Sediment. Petrol., 46, 1007–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, A.H.F. (1977a) The Kannaviou Formation, Cyprus: volcaniclastic sedimentation of a probable Late Cretaceous volcanic arc. J. Geol. Soc. London, 134, 269–92.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, A.H.F. and Hudson, J.D. (1974) Pelagic sediments in the Cretaceous and Tertiary history of the Troodos Massif, Cyprus, in Pelagic Sediments on Land and under the Sea. (eds K.J. Hsü and H.C. Jenkyns). Int. Assoc. Sedimentol. Spec. Publ., 1, 403–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, A.H.F., Eaton, S., Follows, E.J. and McCallum, J.E. (1991b) The role of local tectonics versus global sea-level change in the Neogene evolution of the Cyprus active margin, in Sedimentation, Tectonics and Eustasy-sea level changes at Active Margins, (ed. D.I.M. Macdonald). Int. Assoc. Sedimentol. Spec. Publ., 12, 331–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clube, T.M.M. and Robertson, A.H.F. (1986) The palaeorotation of the Troodos microplate, Cyprus, in the Late Mesozoic-Early Cenozoic plate tectonic framework of the Eastern Mediterranean. Surveys in Geophysics, 8, 375–434.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ealey, P.J. and Knox, G.D. (1975) The pre-Tertiary rocks of S W Cyprus. Geol. Mijnbouw, 54, 85–100.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lapierre, H. (1975) Les formations sédimentaire et éruptive des nappes de Mamonia et leurs rélations avec le massif de Troodos (Chypre occidentale). Mém. Soc. Geol. France.123.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malpas, J., Calon, T. and Squires, G. (1993) The development of a late Cretaceous microplate suture zone in SW Cyprus, in Magmatic Processes and Plate Tectonics (eds H.M. Prichard, T. Alabaster, N.B.W. Harris and C.R. Neary). Geol. Soc. Spec. Publ., 76, 177–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malpas, J., Xenophontos, C. and Williams, D. (1992) The Ayia Varvara Formation of SW Cyprus: a product of complex collisional tectonics. Tectonophysics, 212, 193–214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, A.H.F. (1977b) The Moni Melange, Cyprus: an olistostrome formed at a destructive plate margin. J. Geol. Soc. London, 133, 447–66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, A.H.F. and Woodcock, N.J. (1979) The Mamonia Complex, southwest Cyprus: the evolution and emplacement of a Mesozoic continental margin. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 90, 651–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swarbrick, R.E. (1980) The Mamonia Complex of SW Cyprus and its relationship with the Troodos Complex, in Ophiolites: Proceedings of the International Symposium, Cyprus. 1979, (ed. A. Panayiotou). Cyprus Geological Survey Department, pp. 86–92.

    Google Scholar 

  • Swarbrick, R.E. and Robertson, A.H.F. (1980) Revised stratigraphy of the Mesozoic rocks of southern Cyprus. Geol. Mag., 117, 547–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baroz, F. (1980) Volcanism and continent-island arc collision in the Pentadactylos Range, Cyprus, in Ophiolites: Proceedings of the International Symposium, Cyprus, 1979 (ed. A. Panayiotou). Cyprus Geological Survey Department, pp. 73–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ducloz, C. (1972) The geology of the Bellapais-Kythrea area of the central Kyrenia Range. Cyprus Geol. Surv. Dep. Bull., 6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, A.H.F. and Woodcock, N.H. (1986) The geological evolution of the Kyrenia Range: a critical lineament in the Eastern Mediterranean, in Major crustal lineaments and their influence on the geological history of the continental lithosphere, (eds H.G. Reading, J. Watterson, and S.H. White). Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. London Ser. A, 317, 141–71.

    Google Scholar 

  • Constantinou, G. and Govett, G.J.S. (1973) Geology, geochemistry and genesis of Cyprus sulphide deposits. Econ. Geol., 68, 843–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oudin, E. and Constaninou, G. (1984) Black smoker-chimney fragments in Cyprus sulphide deposits. Nature, 308, 349–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Panayiotou, A. (1980) Cu-Ni-Co-Fe sulphide mineralisation, Limassol Forest, Cyprus, in Ophiolites: Proceedings of the International Symposium, Cyprus, 1979 (ed. A. Panayiotou). Cyprus Geological Survey Department, pp. 102–116.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richardson, H.G. and Cann, J.R. (1989) Mineralogical and metasomatic zonation of alteration pipes of Cyprus sulphide deposits. Econ. Geol., 84, 91–115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, P.T., Gibson, I.L. and Panayiotou, A. (eds) (1987) Cyprus Crustal Study Project: Initial Report, Holes Cy-2 and 2a. Geol. Surv. of Canada Spec. Pap., 85–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schiffman, P. and Smith, B.M. (1987) Petrology and oxygen isotope geochemistry of a fossil seawater hydrothermal system within the Solea graben, Northern Troodos ophiolite. J. Geophys. Res., 93, 4616–624.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spooner, E.T.C. (1976) Hydrothermal model for the origin of the ophiolitic cupriferous pyrite ore deposits of Cyprus, in: Volcanic processes in ore genesis. Institute of Mining and Metallurgy/Geol. Soc. London Spec. Publ., 7, 58–71.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. A. H. F. Robertson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. C. Xenophontos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1997 Chapman & Hall

About this entry

Cite this entry

Robertson, A.H.F., Xenophontos, C. (1997). Cyprus. In: Encyclopedia of European and Asian Regional Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4495-X_23

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4495-X_23

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-412-74040-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-4495-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation