Shells, corals and more, 3.5 million years BP in Cyprus

[cyprusmax47]

So far, I was hiding with another hobby of mine: searching for ancient fossils in Cyprus. To find nice crystals is the one thing but at the same moment to find also nice shells or corals, from the middle Pliocene period (ca 3.5 million years BP) is great. Obviously Cyprus must be quite important for that period of time (Pliocene) concerning fossil formations as Wikipedia shows mostly photos from Cyprus..https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pliocene

My only problem is that there are so many similar looking shells etc that I don't know their name in particular. Perhaps there is one member of PL which could add names....

So enough talk, lets start with one of my most exiting finding at a steep hill side, 250 m above sea level. It looks like a octopus but experts told me better...


nearby another one of that type


at the same hillside, after rain one can collect lovely looking shells, the large ones on top are oysters, all 3.5 m. years old


beautiful colours


very interesting piece, unfortunately broken on transport


a huge oyster in the foreground


all kind of shells, still from the same place




huge one


little one


similar one on matrix


now some from a different place, but still in Paphos district
looks like a fresh one from last weeks lunch...


coral close up


beautiful shell on matrix


all kind of corals and shells




now one of my favourites, the worm belongs to the shell...


and here a complete one


and finally before it gets boring for some...


Max

[Diocletian]

Fascinating, thanks Max

[Dominic]

This brings back many happy memories!

I used to love going fossil hunting on the South Coast. You might find this page quite interesting Max.

https://ukfossils.co.uk/category/sussex/

[LouiseCastricum]

wow Max. Fantastic and very interesting.

[WHL]

Cheers max, I will certainly take a bit more interest the next time im walking along a beach

[CyprusSue]

A nice post Max......very interesting, and nice seashells. Keep on exploring!

[Ancient History]

Excellent photos. Thank you Max.

[brengreen]

Fascinating collection. Thanks for sharing.

[Jimgward]

Cheers max, I will certainly take a bit more interest the next time im walking along a beach

I haven't seen any shells on beaches in Cyprus - maybe too warm a sea now for shellfish?

[WHL]

Cheers max, I will certainly take a bit more interest the next time im walking along a beach

I haven't seen any shells on beaches in Cyprus - maybe too warm a sea now for shellfish?

Im sure many many years ago, the kids used to bring us shells, that they found to show us, but my mind might be playing tricks on me

[cyprusmax47]

I am very surprised how much positive feedback this topic created. If I knew that before I would have posted much earlier as most of the pics are from 2017.
Perhaps I should do a part 2 as I have hundreds more photos in my gallery.

Max

[cyprusmax47]

That is a super amazing collection, Max, well done! Fascinating to see the range of the artefacts; so many different shapes and forms.

When we were kids we lived in Sutton Coldfield, right in the middle of the UK. One day I found a stone in the garden, in which there was a small fossil which suggested that, unlikely as it sounds, that area must have once been covered by sea.

I guess the fact that our beaches in Cyprus are largely stony precludes us coming across too many fossils, but clearly you know where to look.

What's surprising is that your "octopus" find was 250m above sea level, which suggests that there must have been some serious earth movements over the millenia.

The syntectonic basin infill at the "Polis graben" appears to document a two-stage, pulsed uplift related to early-stage collision of the African and Eurasian plates, specially in the NW Cyprus region, at the Pliocene period ca 2,5 million years ago. At the same moment also the sea level was much higher (100-150 m) than nowadays. The coral find (no octopus!) was from the North Polis area.

By the way: it is nice for me to see that members on here show in-depth interest on the subject, specially the fact that corals and shells can be found not only at the beaches but higher up at hilly areas. Recently I found a nice piece of coral at 550 m sea level, one can see at picture no 7 in the center....


Max

[Dominic]

Cheers max, I will certainly take a bit more interest the next time im walking along a beach

I haven't seen any shells on beaches in Cyprus - maybe too warm a sea now for shellfish?

My wife likes picking up shells. They tend to be very small though. When you are snorkelling you can see lots of hermit crabs and some bivalves. Not a huge variety though.