Abstract
The Pliocene-Pleistocene sedimentary fill of a small (70 km2) sub-basin in southwestern Cyprus is interpreted as representing a fan-delta complex with braid channels, which shows a broadly progradational sequence influenced by both sea-level fluctuation and tectonic activity. Basin differentiation began in Middle-Late Miocene with the tectonic break up of uniform carbonate deposition along southern Cyprus. During the latest Miocene (Messinian) salinity crisis, the Pissouri Basin was a shallow silled depression in which thick gypsum deposits accumulated. Renewed basin-margin faulting led to the local development of slope fan deltas, followed by extensive deeper-marine micrites and marlstones. Upwards, these are intercalated with terrigenous siltstone/sandstone turbidites that represent the bottomsets and foresets of a large fan delta. Continued uplift and erosion of Troodos resulted in the southward progradation of stacked micro-Gilbert-type deltas with interbedded Terra Rossa palaeosols that form the fan-delta topset unit. A distinctive bioclastic calcarenite/sandstone body appears to represent a local channelised unit within the fan delta complex.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 245-262 |
| Number of pages | 18 |
| Journal | Sedimentary Geology |
| Volume | 98 |
| Issue number | 1-4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Aug 1995 |
