‘Cyprus.’ [‎62r] (123/184)

GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY.
117
GENERAL CONCLUSIONS.
Accepting for the present Gaudry’s assertion that the compact
limestones are of the secondary, or cretaceous, epoch, and putting
aside the doubt as to whether the pseudo-plutonic rocks may
possibly be older formations which have undergone a process
of metamorphism, then, although the absence of fossils in this
limestone prevents its exact age from being known with certainty,
we may consider it to be the oldest formation in the island; and
from its fine grain and homogeneous texture and colour, extending
over a large area, where not modified by the contact of eruptive
rocks, we may further assume that it was deposited beneath a very
deep and tranquil sea.
The sandstones which overlie this formation were also formed
beneath the sea, but under different conditions and in shallow
water; for their remarkable tabular appearance, and their very
changeable texture, being in some places very hard and in others
quite friable, seem to indicate the existence of strong under-currents,
as well as subsequent pressure, and variable cementation.
That the marls which succeed were formed in deep sea appears
evident from their fine texture and the rarity of fossils; probably
no violent commotion or sudden change of circumstances sepa
rated this formation from that below it. The miocene age (accord
ing to Gaadry) closed with an upheaval of the island from the
bottom of the sea, and the two great systems of mountains existing
at present, then first appeared above the water, the northern chain
which is less lofty than the other, being perhaps at this period
separated into several small islands. Whether this upheaval, arose
from vertical or lateral pressure is difficult to determine, and the
question as to the true age and formation of the greenstone, diorite,
and other plutonic (or perhaps metamorphic) rocks, must for the
present be left in abeyance.
Drs. Unger and Kotschy remark that the dislocations and dis
turbances of the strata, which are perceptible in the older rocks,
appear to have a local character, and do not seem to have been
coeval with the general up-lifting of the island, and they consider
that the eruption of trachyte, though small, may have had no small
share in these disturbances. The portion of the island left sub
merged in comparatively shallow water was now covered by the
pliocene fossiliferous deposit, after which a slight upheaval took
place, and the quaternary conglomerates and sands were next
formed. Lastly, the whole island was raised by an extensive
upheaval of about 500 feet, and it then assumed its present form
and relief; it is believed that this alteration of level was preceded
by violent storms which had the effect of washing away a great
portion of the conglomerate deposit. The littoral cordon, which
contains numerous fossils almost identical with living species, is
similar to that which appears on nearly all the eastern shores of the
Mediterranean ; its formation is therefore due to something more
than a local occurrence, and has been attributed to a general fall in