Cyprus is amazing

[ph06kg1]

Hello to all,

I love PahosLife webpage, and i 've noticed that among interesting subjects you frequently post, there are some devoted to rocks and crystals coming from Paphos region. I am Cypriot and i am very passionate in rocks and minerals, and so i thought sharing some with you, hope to love it! All findings come from all over the island (Paphos included as well)! Volcanic part surrounding the "heart" Troodos mountains is an amazing source of these stuff that are called Zeolite crystals. Quartz, the "Paphian diamond" or "Baffa diamond" as it was known from ancient times, is part of thee Zeolite group along with the analcime, which holds the title "Cyprian diamond" (Gaudry et. al.), because of its beauty and clarity in comparison with other sources from all over the world. Unfortunately, i couldn't upload more pictures, and actually being in .gif format they might be a little blurry.If you like it i can upload some more in the future. Enjoy,

DSC03470.gif (186.52 KiB) Viewed 5941 times

Orange Heulandite crystals with Mordenite background (white background substance). When was first found, Heulandite was completely covered with mordenite; this is final result after cleaning process.

DSC03466.gif (183.82 KiB) Viewed 5941 times

Stilbite cluster (left) with a characteristic to its kind yellow color and a cluster of gmelinite (right). Stilbite and gmelinite belong in the Zeolite series, having a nearly similar chemical formula Na4(Si8Al4)O24·11H2O, based on Sodium and NaCa4(Si27Al9)O72·28(H2O) respectively. Variations on these formulas have been observed based on the dominant chemical element.

DSC03488.gif (189.12 KiB) Viewed 5941 times

Stilbite cluster with celadonite inclusions and oxides. Celadonite is a green mineral associated with volcanic rocks (in Cyprus case)

DSC03512.gif (162.38 KiB) Viewed 5941 times

Quartz crystals from Paphos region. Red crystals are attributed to iron oxide inclusions.

DSC03514.gif (177.86 KiB) Viewed 5941 times

Flower stilbite cluster. Love the way the crystals intersecting each other. White substance on the top cannot be removed (of a carbonate calcium origin)

Thank you all, and have a nice day!

[Dominic]

Hello ph06kg1!

Thank you for your crystal pics, they are always welcome. I shall move this thread to the general section because more people will see it there. This is the section where I move blogs that have been posted a while ago.

I found this one today. From a distance I thought it was an animal skull, it looked so white in the sun. Gypsum comes in a huge variety of shapes and colours in Cyprus.

Incidentally, if you like I can put together a guest blog of some of your pictures, like I did with Max. Entirely up to you.

 

skull.jpg (159.19 KiB) Viewed 5914 times

 

skull-close.jpg (167.56 KiB) Viewed 5914 times

[ph06kg1]

Hi Dominic! Thank you very much! Yes i would love to get my pics in a guest blog, no prob. That is a very classic example of mediteranean gypsum, found mainly in Middle East-North Africa region. Paphos is currenlty the leader in gypsum deposits, while Maroni (Larnaka) and Ksiliatos area are great examples. I am very happy i am welcome to your website! I ll send somethong new soon! Let me ask you,

Is it possible to upload a non-.gif picture fotmat? And is it possible to upload more than 5 images at a time?

Thank you very much,
George

[Dominic]

Images can be GIF, JPEG or PNG. Max size: 250K each. Max dimensions 1024x1024

For a blog, you are better off emailing me the pics, then I can arrange them properly. There is no size restriction on images you email, but it is best to send a max of five at a time unless they are really big in size, in which case send fewer. What is important is that I will be able to match your accompanying text with the relevent pictures.


email: admin @ paphoslife.com

Don't copy and paste that email address; it won't work. Just type it out manually, omitting the spaces.


And you are very welcome to the website.

[Galini]

Beautiful photos - thank you for posting

All of the posts related to crystals is starting to get my interest up again
(I used to go hunting for them years ago and still have a little collection that I brought over here with me)

[cyprusmax47]

It would be nice if there was a real expert on board to provide knowledge and nice pics to the forum. So far I believe only Andreas (Lofos-5) can explain which different rocks and crystals we have here in Cyprus, but then he is only a couple of weeks in the country as he works in Doha.

Max

[Dominic]

Expertise is nice and all, but not needed for nice photos. It is handy to know what things are, but shiny is shiny.

[PolemIan]

For info, there is a Geology Group - recently changed to 'Earth Sciences' within Paphos Third Age (aka P3a).

Ian

[ph06kg1]

Beautiful photos - thank you for posting

All of the posts related to crystals is starting to get my interest up again
(I used to go hunting for them years ago and still have a little collection that I brought over here with me)

Τhanks! Indeed, it is an amazing thing to do!

[ph06kg1]

It would be nice if there was a real expert on board to provide knowledge and nice pics to the forum. So far I believe only Andreas (Lofos-5) can explain which different rocks and crystals we have here in Cyprus, but then he is only a couple of weeks in the country as he works in Doha.

Max

Hi Max, i am no expert, just what i 've gained through my internet searches so far! I have some variety though that i can gladly share it with you guys! I am just a physicist who has passion with geology

[ph06kg1]

Expertise is nice and all, but not needed for nice photos. It is handy to know what things are, but shiny is shiny.

hehehe ideed, that's all the case !

[Lofos-5]

Nice photos of a very special mineral group. The Troodos ophiolite really is a treasure chest when it comes to minerals some of which form very pretty and abundant crystals.

I have a colleague who did his PhD on zeolites - this group of minerals has many technical applications - check on Wiki to read about it. Did you know for example that non-clumping cat litter is often made of zeolite (the crystal structure acts like a sieve or adsorbant - in this case removing moisture and odour)?

Happy to help/review your photos if you wish - although diagnostics via photos is certainly not easy, and I am by no means a specialist either

A.

[ph06kg1]

Nice photos of a very special mineral group. The Troodos ophiolite really is a treasure chest when it comes to minerals some of which form very pretty and abundant crystals.

I have a colleague who did his PhD on zeolites - this group of minerals has many technical applications - check on Wiki to read about it. Did you know for example that non-clumping cat litter is often made of zeolite (the crystal structure acts like a sieve or adsorbant - in this case removing moisture and odour)?

Happy to help/review your photos if you wish - although diagnostics via photos is certainly not easy, and I am by no means a specialist either

A.

Hi Lofos-5! Thank you very much for your kind words. Yes indeed, the porosity of zeolites allows them to also act as catalysts in biochemical conversions, they are widely used in disolving biowaste to produce energy! Or as simple vitamins, like the greek zeolite that i am aware of (you can actually drink it! ) you are more than welcome to review my pics if you like! Maybe in the future i can add pics with more clarity to help you out.

Cheers,
George