Pelagic chalks and calciturbidites from the lower Tertiary of the Troodos Massif, Cyprus

The Troodos Massif of Cyprus is blanketed by a sequence of predominantly calcareous pelagic sediments ranging in age from Upper Cretaceous to Middle Miocene. Upper Paleocene and Lower Eocene chalks and marls vary laterally from thick sequences of pelagic calciturbidites in south Cyprus, to thinner in situ deposits on former topographic highs located in southwest Cyprus, and highly condensed ferruginous chalks situated along the north margins of the Troodos Massif. Identification of the calciturbidites is based on grading, lateral continuity of beds and diagnostic sedimentary structures. The calciturbidite beds are chalks composed of nannoplankton, planktonic foraminifera, and Radiolaria, with occasional redeposited benthonic foraminifera. The basal zones of individual calciturbidite beds contain silt derived both from erosion of the Troodos volcanic basement and from contemporaneous acid volcanism. Features of the interturbidite chalks and marls, including the absence of benthonic foraminifera, demonstrate slow deposition in relatively deep water, whereas the stratigraphically condensed chalks of North Troodos accumulated slowly in shallower water. General field relationships and paleocurrent measurements show that the calciturbidites flowed from the north-east down a regional paleoslope which was previously developed by deformation of the south margin of the Troodos Massif in the Maastrichtian.