Rocky New Year's Eve (Part 1)

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Today i will share with you some pics (rocky ofcourse!) regarding my findings last week when i was exploring in more detail Avdellero area in Larnaka. For those of you who never heard of the village, here is the link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avdellero

It is located near Athienou and Troulloi village and plays a major role in the understanding of Troodos formation and Cyprus island in general. A few days ago i took my usual walk in the nearby Lava hills in Avdellero, when i noticed this particular hill:

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A typical Avdellero Lava hil. A few plants and vegetation only! Volcanogenic areas away from Troodos tend to have only a few trees and grass, does anyone knows why this happens?

I decided to climb the hill, always with extra care, because these hills are usually sloppy, and have many rock fragments (becuase lava rocks are quite soft and break easily). Can't remember how many times i returned home injured from falling off the the hills, due to the slippery ground! When i climbed the hill i noticed some large lava boulders, coming from the nearby road cut (the old road connecting Athienou with Avdellero). That was a wonderful opportunity to find some really good quality crystals, since road cuts often bring to surface rocks that onced used to be deeply formed, hence accomodate fresh crystals! Walking more, i noticed this particular boulder:

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A Lava boulder lying on the ground (coming from the road cut).

I observed this boulder in more detail, and noticed that it had some crystal veins on it; a good sign for crystal amygdules in the interior! I broke it using my chisel and hammer, and what i got was the following:

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Broken boulder showing its crystals explicitly (white areas in the middle)!

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First large piece with beautiful natrolite on analcime background!


Well, that piece was just the beggining; after crushing this boulder there were more surprises seeing the sunlight for the very first time!

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Natrolite crystals with iron oxide stains. Unfortunately, other beautiful pieces were destroyed, as natrolite is very sensitive and you have to work with extra care when extracting it..

------------------To be continued in Part 2---------------------