AD LIB

The magazine of

Paphos Third Age

The law comes to call - and

delivers a challenge

which P3A can’t evade

Ros Sparrow sends her message from the chair

Welcome to the P3A’s new website. As you may notice, we have not made radical changes; much will look

familiar. But the previous site ran on out-of-date software and was due to expire. So we have given priority to an upgrade onto new software. This is mobile-friendly and will give us flexibility when we want to introduce new features. So if you are good at IT and have creative ideas for our new site, please get in

touch! We are still looking for someone to manage the site.

Meanwhile, the Cyprus government has thrown a major task in our direction. The P3A has, since its inception, been registered under a law governing clubs. This law has now been abolished,

and while clubs are still allowed to exist, they may not have a bank account. Any club with a bank account or other

property now has to register under a new Law on Associations and Foundations.

The requirements for this are much more onerous and expensive, and include a minimum of 20 “founder members” obtaining police clearance, large amounts of paperwork to be submitted in Greek, and copies of the passports and

residence visas of all non-Cypriot members.

I made inquiries and found there is a Cyprus NGO Initiative on Law Reform, which has been giving briefings to non-government organisations across the island on the new law. We then teamed up with the UKCA, who hosted a very

useful briefing by a lawyer from the NGO Initiative, on 23 November. This brought together many clubs from

Paphos and elsewhere, who are now sharing ideas and information. Having registered for 2017 before the passage of the law, we now have until July 2018 to comply with the new regulations.

The committee will look hard at ways to arrange our status under this new regime. We shall explore other

legal structures for holding the club’s funds.

If we must register as an Association, we may need to re-define a small number of volunteers as “members” and all others as “friends” or “guests” of the P3A (without altering their actual status within the club).

You will certainly hear more on this issue in the New Year. Whatever route we take, we are determined it will not

affect the successful running of this club and our members’ enjoyment of the many activities they wish to pursue. And with that, I can only wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year.

The easy way: new members flock to join the club Membership this year has again continued to grow and now stands at 838, writes Dale Ikin, Membership Secretary. We have gained 99 new members since 1st January this year, and 652 (77.80%) of our membership have already renewed up to 31st August 2018. Joining P3A or renewing your subscription has never been easier. We now have mail boxes at Angelikas Restaurant, the Droushia Heights Hotel and the Olive Tree Tavern, Polemi. In January 2018 we will also have a P3A PO Box address at the Kamares Club, where members will be able to either deposit or post mail.

The membership year now runs from 1st September to 31st August. For those members yet to renew for 2017/18, the annual subscription of €5 is now due.

www.paphos3rdage.org December 2017

2

P3A committee members

Chair Ros Sparrow Vice Chair Keith Adair Secretary Wally Oppenheim Treasurer John Harper Membership Secretary Dale Ikin Groups Coordinator Keith Adair Magazine Editor Nigel Harris Contact details: http://paphos3rdage.org/committee.htm

Contents Message from the Chair......…1 Group news….....................….2

Committee news.....….…......2,3

AGM........................................4 Saturday Events………….......5 New group: Romantic reads....6 New groups: jazz, French.......7 Food: lunch, cookery...............8 Natural History........................9 History...................................10 Play Reading.........................11 Quilting..................................12 Family History.......................13 Geology……...……….......14-17

I’m here to help, says the group leaders’ new leader

At the October AGM Linda Maidment finished a long term as the Groups Co-ordinator. Linda served three years in the

post and for all that time worked hard for not only the group members and their leaders, but in doing many of the peripheral tasks, mostly voluntarily, necessary in an organisations as large as the P3A. So much was the effort involved, that a new

“Liason” role is anticipated, particularly to liase with outside groups.

Your new Groups Co-ordinator is myself, Keith Adair, at keithadair76@gmail.com. I will try my best to assist you. Running a group can at times be hard work but equally very rewarding. The task need not fall on just one individual, how-

ever. Many of our groups have two or even more members working together to make that task easier.

If you have an idea for a group please get in touch. If you feel you can offer your skills to help co-ordinate a group, perhaps

one that you are attending, then speak to the group leader – who may well jump at your offer!

Some of our group newcomers in 2017 include Strictly Romance (reading), run by Maria Price; Jazz Appreciation,

run by Colin Mercer; and French Conversation by Carol Waugh. Full details of these groups are on pages 6 and 7.

Two recently formed groups, Rhymes and Reasons (a poetry appreciation group) and the Flight Simulator group, have both

found it difficult to attract sufficient members and have sadly had to close.

The Tennis group has been suspended for the time being due to injury besetting some members, but Jenny Bowman-Jones hopes to be able to re-start the group in early 2018.

Two fresh faces join the P3A committee

1. Keith Adair: Vice Chair and Groups Coordinator

Born and schooled in Ipswich, at age 16 he joined the RAF to train in telecommunications. This led to a variety of postings around the world. Married in 1970 to Joyce, they spent the next three years in Cyprus, both working at RAF Episkopi.

On leaving the RAF he joined British Petroleum with whom he remained until retirement. In 2006 they returned to Cyprus, settling in the heritage village of Anogyra.

The geology of the island grabbed his interest immediately which has led him to a long asso-ciation with the P3A. Other interests include playing bridge and being part of the technical team for Stage One theatre productions.

2. John Harper, Honorary Treasurer

John qualified as a Chartered Accountant in Jersey. For most of his working life he has run companies in the Offshore Financial Services sector in the Channel Islands, Bermuda and

Mauritius.

Since retiring in 2007 he has travelled the globe lecturing mainly in Trust and Company Law and acts as a consultant in trust matters as well as being a trustee and protector of trusts.

He is former Groups Coordinator, Deputy Chair and Chair of P3A. John and his wife Tina have been very active in P3A since 2008 and live in Tala.

3

Help us talk the talk P3A’s busy committee spends a lot of time pondering how best to talk to members and find out what they want. And now that the membership is headed for 850 – it has doubled in five years – that’s not as easy as it sounds. So the committee has come up with an idea which might ease this problem – bring some of the members on to the committee. The plan is to annually elect or co-opt one, two or perhaps even three members straight on to the committee and make them “members without portfolio.” This means that unlike the existing six members, they won’t have a specific job, such as Treasurer or Groups Coordinator. They would be there solely as members, for their opinions and their input on the thinking in the wider membership. By bringing their ideas and experience to bear on any given issue, the committee hopes to get a better idea of members’ likely response to initiatives and the occasional controversy. Also, with such a large membership, there is a feeling that we could do with a larger commit-tee. And maybe some of the new members would find it so enjoyable that they would like to stand for jobs as they become vacant – such as Events Organiser and Technical Officer, which are vacant at the moment. Another issue this idea could help with is that the current committee contains only one woman, a disturbing fact when the membership is half female. If this plan came to fruition it could be used to rectify this imbalance. So in the same spirit, let us know what you think of the idea. If you really, really like it you could even – dare we say it – volunteer. Nigel Harris

4

We’re even bigger and better ...but now we need to beef up our groups and our committee

Once again, thanks to Terry Spiby, we were able to use the excellent Avanti Hotel as our venue for the Paphos

3rd Age AGM in October.

Around 80 members came to chat and look at displays from a number of our groups. The formal meeting started

at 10.30am and lasted half an hour.

Our chair, Ros Sparrow, was able to

report another highly successful year

for P3A.

The membership - now standing at 830

- has doubled in the last five years, and

our financial position remains healthy.

Several new groups have started in re-

cent months, although some older

groups are no longer active.

We really need more groups for such

a large membership.

There were various changes on the committee. Brian Chalcraft (Technical Officer), Linda Maidment (Group

Coordinator) and Andrew Oliver (Events) all stepped down and were thanked for their sterling efforts on the

committee.

Last but not least, Danne Johnston has retired as Treasurer. She has been our treasurer since the foundation of

P3A in 2010 and before that served as treasurer of the Paphos Branch of Cyprus Third Age.

For all these years, she looked after our finances fairly and efficiently and always contributed common sense in

committee discussions.

She has also led various groups. She has been awarded Honorary Life Membership of P3A and we hope she en-

joys a long and happy retirement from Budgets and Banks.

Keith Adair joined the committee as Vice-Chair and Group Coordinator, and John Harper, our former chair, re-

joined as Treasurer.

However, at the time of writing we still have vacancies on the committee for Events Organiser and Technical

Officer, and one issue we need to address is how to encourage more members to serve on the committee.

At the moment the committee is too small for the large membership we serve.

P3A continues to be the largest and most successful Third Age organisation in Southern Europe. Long

may this continue. Wally Oppenheim, Honorary Secretary

5

Talks soar away

to outer space

and make a

safe landing

An exciting series of Saturday talks - all at Droushia Heights - will take us beyond the

Milky Way to other galaxies, back down to Earth, and then off into space again….

Saturday December 2 The Role of Supermassive Black Holes in the Evolution of Galaxies, by Dr Natalie Christopher

Our knowledge of galaxies has improved dramatically in recent years, yet there are still many unanswered questions.

Dr Natalie Christopher – pictured above centre - will explain the techniques used to reveal the physical processes at

play within galaxies, and how these allow us to probe the supermassive black holes at the heart of galactic centres.

Natalie gained a PhD in Astrophysics from Oxford University and is now conducting research at the European Uni-

versity, Cyprus. She works on galaxies other than our own, helping piece together our understanding of how galaxies

have evolved with time and why the beautiful universe we live in came to be the way it is.

Saturday January 20 The Endemic Plants of Cyprus, by Yiannis Christofides

Cyprus began to emerge from the sea around 20 million years ago. Lying between the landmasses of Eurasia, Africa

and the Middle East, it was colonized by plants whose seeds arrived on the wind. But then in isolation from the

mainland, new species evolved. Cyprus has over 100 plant species recognised as endemic i.e. unique to the island.

Dr Yiannis Christofides gained a degree in Chemistry at University College, London, followed by a PhD, before

returning to Cyprus in 1986 to pursue his interests in botany and photography. Yiannis’ infectious enthusiasm and

gentle humour have made him a favourite speaker of the Natural History Group, which is why this talk is now of-

fered to the whole of the P3A.

Saturday February 17 Dan Dare and the Eagle Comic, by Howard Smith A fully illustrated nostalgic talk by Eagle specialist Howard Smith, telling of the fascinating story of the birth of

Eagle and its British space hero Dan Dare – pictured left and right above. It will include 1950s studio and TV film.

The talk explores the world for children after the Second World War and how a vicar with an art student founded an

exceptional comic for boys that spread worldwide. It sold nearly a million copies at launch, with a 2.5 million reader-

ship of whom 20% were girls.

Illustrated profusely from Howard Smith’s personal collection of rare sketches, photographs, artwork, films, toys and

ephemera, this is the incredible and nostalgic story of Eagle and Dan Dare that will leave you wondering why they

put such dedication and detail into just a children’s comic! Ros Sparrow

6

New groups: romance, talking French and all that jazz

Book group

gets to the

heart of

reading

about

romance

Welcome to P3A’s newest reading group Strictly Romance, introduced by group leader Maria Price -pictured right

As a lifelong reader of romance I am keen to promote all aspects of romantic fiction, and invite likeminded

people who feel the same to join me in what I hope will be a fun group.

Our first meeting in October was a lively gathering and resulted in each group member choosing their fa-

vourite book to be added to the reading list of 12 books for the coming year.

We all had our own ideas as to what constituted a good romance read, which was great.

Because like me, not all P3A members are permanently based on the island, reviews and ratings will be done

online (Facebook and/or emails) and in my absence meetings may be hosted by other members.

Venue and days will vary accordingly.

My aim is to share reviews, find new authors and enjoy the meetings - but the stars of the show are the

books themselves. In the long term I hope to create a league table of excellent romantic fiction available to

anyone who shows interest in the genre.

On a final note, please be aware some of the books chosen are quite raunchy; discussions might be unsuit-

able for those who are easily embarrassed.

For further details please contact: mariaprice@windowslive.com

Here’s a hot read for those cold nights “There are few things nicer than a ‘hot’ read to generate a little warmth on those long cold winter evenings.” So says ‘Strictly Romance’ group leader Elizabeth M Price, author of ‘Choices’ her first novel. “If you enjoy a fast paced story, a gritty plot, a lively cast of characters, a touch of humour, and a satisfying happy ever after; then ‘Choices’ is the per-fect romp to lift your spirits and warm your cockles this winter.” Born in Blackpool, Maria gave up her day job in 2005 to work and travel with her husband Andrew. They now divide their time between Cyprus, New Zealand and the UK. Writing has become an important part of her nomadic lifestyle.

‘Choices’, published by Austin Macauley (available on Amazon) is Maria’s first

novel in a series of three, exploring similar themes of life, love and personal

growth.

Next page: jazz appreciation and talking French

7

A new jazz age

finds a home

in Peyia -

and aims to

listen to music

old and new

Group leader Colin Mercer introduces a new group for jazz lovers

Parlez-vous français? The answer c’est bien sûr

The French Conversation Group has started off well with many closet French speakers coming out of the woodwork, writes group leader Carol Waugh.

We have decided that the Elysium Hotel library is a good venue and that is where we will be meeting every 2nd and 4th Friday of the month at 3p.m. The cost of attending is the price of a drink from the

bar, which averages out at €5 per person. The meeting usually lasts for 2 hours. There is no strict format. Topics of conversation are whatever group members are interested in. We usually change seats halfway through the session to make sure everyone gets a chance to converse

with all attendees. If you cannot be there for a meeting or can only manage half a meeting, that is not a problem. The only

rule is that you speak French during the session. This group doesn't have a teacher. We learn by using French and helping each other when difficulties

arise. Some members come armed with a dictionary, but it is only rarely used as there is usually a member who is able to supply the required information.

Members come from varied walks of life. They share a desire to keep their hard won language skills alive and improve on them when they can. This is why I started the group, as I felt I was in danger of

losing my French because I couldn’t find anyone to practice it with. Reading French and listening to it is not the same as having conversations which require a re-

sponse. Conversing in real time exercises the brain in a different way. The group fills this need and all who feel they would benefit from

coming along to the meetings will be made welcome.

The new Jazz Appreciation Group is off to a reasonably good start. We had 12 people at the first meeting in September and

18 at the second in October, so something must be going right!

This is not intended to be an ‘educational’ group; its aim is to provide an opportunity for people who like jazz of any

genre to come along, hear some of their favourite performers, and perhaps hear someone new to them that they can then

follow up. I provide a programme I have selected from YouTube, mostly live performances.

The first meeting covered a wide variety of jazz but the second and future meetings will be held in two parts At the second meeting the first part was devoted to vocalists and the second to small groups and trios. Our next meeting is to cover firstly

pianists and secondly British jazz.

The venue for future meetings remains the Coral Star restaurant, Peyia, but the starting time has been changed from 5 p.m.

to 3 p.m. There is a small charge of €3.50, which covers hire of the room with the use of a large TV to show the pro-

gramme, plus coffee/tea or a soft drink and biscuits.

Please come along if you like jazz. If you have any queries please call Colin Mercer on 99146652.

8

A page for foodies: Pervez Tenobia on the P3A Lunch

Group and, below, Jill Dare on a reborn cookery group My wife Zenobia and I have been running the P3A Lunch Group for about 4 years. The primary aim of the group is

to visit different restaurants trying out various cuisines and to socialise with fellow members and friends.

We have explored Indian, Chinese, Thai, Moroccan, Lebanese, British, Syrian and of course Cypriot cuisine. We

meet on the last Saturday of each month, except July/August and December when most members are away.

We ask the restaurant to showcase their menu, as some members might not have tried that cuisine, and then negotiate

the price, but they decide whether they prefer to serve it as a meze or a buffet. Also, we request them to provide ta-

bles of six and to pace the service, thus giving members the opportunity to socialise.

At the end of the meal, members review the restaurant by scoring against the following categories: Ambiance, Ser-

vice, Presentation of Food, Quality of Food and Value for Money. Members also recommend other restaurants.

Over the years our membership has increased to over 100, resulting in between 30 and 50 people joining us for Sat-

urday lunches. Some restaurants cannot handle such a large number, giving us a challenge to find new venues.

We try to find restaurants willing to work within our budget of around €16 per person excluding drinks, but some-times we have to settle for slightly more. We tend to revisit a restaurant every two years if the members wish to.

We are happy to welcome new members. If you are interested, please send us an email.

We will then add you to the list and send you information at the beginning of every month.

After a rest to digest, we’re off around the world once more After a wonderful start to the group and meals shared from a wide variety of countries, Around the World in 80 Dishes has had a natural break for the last 6 months, due to my need to be back in the UK. Recovered and home again, we restarted the group in October with a very nice Swedish evening. Renowned for its cold table, or smorgasbord, we made that our starting point. We followed that with meatballs in creamy sauce and the fa-mous lingonberry sauce (thank goodness for the Swedish section in Ikea!), and ended with cheese and chocolate cake . Isn't it wonderful that every country has a special chocolate cake, all with slight differences? Ours, made by a new mem-ber, will be very memorable. Sadly, over the months we were not meeting some members took up other activities, but now we can open the doors again and welcome any new folk who would like to join us. You don’t need to have won the Bake-Off - just be inter-ested in trying food from all different countries..

We meet once a month, choose a theme for the evening and each contribute a dish towards a buffet. No competitiveness, no judging, just enjoyment. Please ring Jill Dare on 26 911489.

9

How the

birds

flew in

as the

giants of

the sky

paid the

price

During the past five years the Natural History group has been looking at every aspect of the fauna and flora of Cyprus that we can find knowledgeable people to talk on, writes Ros Sparrow. Talks have ranged from bats to butterflies, orchids to orthopterans (grasshoppers and crickets), and reptiles to raptors (such as Bonelli’s Eagle and the Griffon Vulture). In 2017 group leader David Sparrow began a series on the evolution of vertebrates, starting half a billion years ago with the emergence of the first Chordates (animals which possess a hollow dorsal nerve cord called a notochord, which in vertebrates evolved into the spinal column or backbone). We followed the evolution of the bony fish, their emergence onto land and the evolution of amphibians, and then the development of reptiles.

David’s last talk covered two major groups which emerged in the Triassic period 250 – 200 million years ago (MYA), the crocodilians, some of which of course survive today, and the pterosaurs, such as the pterodactylus, pictured above. The first known pterosaur fossil was discovered in Solnhofen, Germany in 1784, and

initially, like most fossils found up to that point, it was assumed to be a marine creature. Its identification as a flying reptile, in the early 1800s, caused shock and controversy because it had patently gone extinct – a totally new concept which ran contrary to the teachings of the church. For many years pterosaurs were thought to be weak, clumsy animals, barely capable of

active flight and even more inept on the ground. However research since the 1980s has shown that many species were strong and agile flyers. They were a highly successful group which lasted for 150 million years, and only went extinct along with the dinosaurs 65 MYA. It was probably the large size of many pterosaur species by that time – some as big as small aircraft – which resulted in their extinction when conditions dramatically changed. The much smaller birds which had meanwhile also evolved were able to survive the extinction event and become widespread to this day.

10

History focuses on Britain’s second-class

citizens...women of its past (and present)

The History Group continues to flourish. There were

two very popular talks in the summer on the Russian

Revolution of 1917 and the History of Modern Turkey.

Then since September we have returned to the regular

cycle of fortnightly talks. I finished “The Rise of Hitler”

explaining how and why it was possible for this evil

man to come to power in Germany and to become the

most popular leader they have ever known.

My current topic - the Women’s History of Britain - is

proving to be very controversial and popular. ABOVE: History isn’t bunk...but this is

It raises fundamental questions about how and why women have been treated as second class citi-

zens and how they managed to achieve something like equality. It is far more than the story of the

Suffragettes.

It was my wife Denise who encouraged me to tackle this difficult and wide-ranging subject.

For the future, I plan to cover “Russia: The Rise of the Romanovs 1596-1796” in the New Year.

The emergence of the Romanovs as the most successful ruling family Russia has had was in many

ways a surprising story.

It stars some of the most famous rulers in history, including Peter the Great and Catherine the

Great. There will be plenty of anecdotes to lighten the serious bits about wars and laws.

The next topic after that will be “Britain 1945-51”, when I will cover the social and political revo-

lution that took place under the Labour government of Clement Attlee.

From the National Health Service to the Cold War and End of Empire, Attlee’s government can

claim to be creator of modern Britain.

As always, there is no limit on numbers for the History group. Droushia Heights can easily seat up

to 100 people in the Conference Centre. So if you are not yet a member and would like to find out

more, please email me for more details. Wally Oppenheim Enexus2008@gmail.com

11

The P3A Play Reading Group has been in existence since 2005 under the capable leadership of Andrew Dare, writes Simon Welch. Sadly, early this year Andrew announced that for family reasons he would be unable to continue leading the group, so my wife Joan and I stepped in. The first few months of our “tenure” have been a learning experience and we now know what works for the group…… and what doesn’t! We’re delighted that we’ve gained several new members, all of whom have stayed!– and another couple of members have returned. Our attendance has ranged from a low of 5, to a high of 14, which leads to some logistical problems in trying to ensure that everybody gets a chance to read. But more importantly, we all have fun. We’ve read a selection of plays recently ranging from one act plays through to a Ray Cooney farce and, most recently, the classic J B Priestley comedy “When We are Married”. We try to find a play that fits those who will be attending and the tastes of the group - so we tend to avoid both Shakespeare and modern “avant-garde” dramatists. Over the next few months, we could be reading plays such as the Francis Durbridge thriller “Suddenly At Home”, the Abdication crisis drama “Crown Matrimonial”, the gentle festive comedy “My Three Angels” and others. Our members range from a former professional actor, all the way through to those who have not looked at a play script since they were at school, but all are equally welcome.

No previous or current acting skills are required.

We meet on the second Thursday of each month starting at 2 p.m. at the Coral Star Restaurant in Coral Bay.

If you would like to know more, please contact simonwelch@gmx.com

12

Season’s greetings: Christmas table mats and place runners made by quilters in the October workshop

Quilting brings joy and sadness New quilting group leader Jackie Bolton on a year of changes and challenges for the members

This year our founding leader Jill Dare stepped down after 15 years of group leadership. We are

pleased to say that Jill will still continue to be part of our group.

But we wanted to say a huge thank you to Jill, for the time and commitment she has given to us as leader and

mentor. It is through her efforts that this group has continued to hold fun and productive meetings, and remain a

friendly happy group of quilters. THANK YOU JILL. Well, what have we been up to this year?

In January and February we worked on our Tumble quilts. In March we had our workshop at the Coral Star,

working on applique Christmas projects. Sounds mad I know, but with quilting you need to think ahead. In April and May our new project was the Carpenters Star. It’s amazing how different they all look, with all the

beautiful fabrics. This project – one is pictured below - took us to the start of the summer break.

In September we are back to our quilting, making a handy tea towel pot holder...useful for yourself or as a gift. October and another workshop: this time we are

making Christmas table runners and place mats.

It's great to see that while we all use the same pat-

tern, every one is so delightfully different, as each member uses her own individual fabric se-

lection and colour combinations. We finished up

with some stunning results. November starts with a challenge. The Illusion

quilt, shadow box, project will see us into the

Christmas break and the start of the new year.

We have lots of fun and interesting projects to challenge us for 2018, some we will love and oth-

ers will drive us to distraction. But we will get

through with laughter, and the help and commis-eration of our fellow quilters. We wish you all a

very merry Christmas.

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON QUILTING.

13

Coming

soon: an

extra

branch

on the

family tree

Family History Group Leader David Richards sets the scene for a new course The Family History Group is now in its 3rd year. Since 2014 we have run 4 separate courses (each consisting of 4 fortnightly sessions) and dur-ing these courses we have trained over 30 P3A mem-bers to be family historians. They are all now busily researching their own family trees, seeking advice from the group leader if needed. The group is aimed at members who have no experience of family tree research but wish to learn how to plough their way through the plethora of information available on the internet and create their own family tree, going back initially three generations. We can also provide a printed family tree for each member once their research is complete. We will show members how to start their research using the internet. We will introduce them to the UK tools available (birth, marriage and death certificates and also census returns). We will then look at free and subscription based family tree websites and show how to use them. Each session will begin with a short presentation from either the Group Leader or Deputy Group Leader. These will include introducing the topic, discoveries in our family trees and advice on stor-age etc. We will then go into a question and answer session followed by one-to-one briefings. As we already have 6 expressions of interest, we will be setting up a new course in early January 2018 which will, in common with previous courses, consist of 4 fortnightly sessions on a Friday morning at Neo’s Sports Bar in Peyia. Why not come and join us and see what interesting things you can find in your family tree? I have found Aristocracy, Tragedy and the 1st Chairman of Burberry in my own.

If you are interested in the next course in January 2018 please contact Group Leader David Richards at davidjrichards@hotmail.com, tel: 95114435.

14

It’s salt, but not as we know it. Members of the Geology Group at a wall of gypsum deposits

In the salt cellar Adrian Curtis on a day of exploration for the Geology Group

It’s 6 million years ago, the Mediterranean is sparkling blue, and it looks pretty much like it does today, except that

it’s teeming with life. Little did those poor sea creatures know what was about to befall them – the MESSINIAN

SALINITY CRISIS!

The connection with the Atlantic Ocean first became restricted and then totally blocked. For the first 360,000 years,

evaporation caused the waters of the Mediterranean to become a super-concentrated brine, because there was no way

for the waters to mingle with the Atlantic.

When the blockage became total, the level of the Mediterranean quickly dropped by 2km or more, leaving just a few

of the deeper basins with water that must have been a salty sludge. This desiccation lasted a further 270,000 years,

until a spectacular flood restored the Mediterranean back to normal, by pouring through what we know today as the Straits of Gibraltar.

How do we know all this? There are three main pieces of evidence:

There is a massive layer of “salt” deposits across the whole Mediterranean Basin – in some places 2km deep.

They are only formed when evaporation concentrates the “salts” naturally held in brine. There are several

types of “salts” – common sea salt, gypsum, and potash are some well-known ones. The scale and spread of

the deposits indicates that a catastrophic desiccation had happened over the whole basin.

All sediments contain a fossil record. Those poor sea creatures mentioned earlier virtually disappeared 5.96 mil-

lion years ago, for 630,000 years, and then miraculously reappeared. Conditions in the Mediterranean had

obviously become unbearable for all but a few extreme forms of life. Seismic surveys and drill cores have shown that ALL the major river systems in the Mediterranean (Nile,

Rhone, Po, Ebro etc) have deeply incised valleys, way below the current sea level. The Nile incision is over

2km below the current level. These incisions have since all been filled with sediments dated AFTER the

Messinian Salinity Crisis. This indicates that all rivers flowing into the Mediterranean had to adjust to a

much lower sea-level. continued...

15

Geology Group members ponder the mysteries of a rare circular formation near Armageti

In the salt cellar...continued In Cyprus, the Messinian Salinity Crisis left its mark in the form of extensive gypsum deposits, many of which are visi-

ble in the Polemi Basin, Moni/Kalavasos area, Pissouri Basin, and the edges of the Mesaoria Plain around Nicosia.

These were all relatively shallow sea basins 6 million years ago, which proved ideal for the formation of gypsum crys-

tals from the super-concentrated brine.

Gypsum crystals take on many different forms and shapes, depending on the depth of water and other local conditions.

They range from the beautiful “swallowtail” crystals which can each be metres long, to the fine crystals of the layered

“Marmara” deposits, and the even finer grained “alabaster”.

The P3A Geology Group held a field trip on March 21 this year to look at some of the gypsum deposits in the

Polemi Basin. A total of 22 of us started in Eledio and continued via Amargeti, Lemona, Letymbou, and

Polemi, stopping for lunch at the lovely Olive Tree some 3 hours later.

The stops covered a broad selection of the different types of gypsum, and gave us an idea of the scale of the deposits.

Uplift of SW Cyprus since the end of the crisis means that these deposits are now located at a height of 300-400m above

sea level, and despite having been extensively eroded, they are still impressive.

If you’re in the area, try and (safely!) stop to have a look. Some gypsum deposits are not easily recognisable from a dis-

tance, as they just look like “normal” grey/brown rock, until you get up close. Deposits formed of larger crystals will be

more easily recognised because you can see the light reflecting off them on sunny days (and we have a few of those!).

Alternatively, you could pop along to the Axiothea Hotel at 10am on the 2nd or 4th Tuesday of the month, and see

what you think. We are NOT a group of geological experts by any means (though there are a couple who know

what they’re talking about!), and we try to keep everything as simple as possible.

It is a very relaxed group, where any level of question can be raised, and all contributions are gratefully received.

One thing I have learnt is that nothing geological is set in stone (sic), and there is plenty of opportunity for open

debate. We concentrate on Cyprus, which is internationally recognised as a “geologist’s paradise”, but discuss

broader issues too, and have frequent field trips.

See you there?

16

Tramping the Troodos... Next time in Ad Lib, savour the delights of a group’s big trip

In early October John Malpas, Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of

Hong Kong, conducted the Geology Group on a truly memorable three-day

excursion to many of the extraordinary sites of geological interest that the

Troodos has to offer.

We walk on rocks once 8km beneath the ocean floor. We see the remains of

magma chambers and the effects of melting in the Earth’s mantle.

We observe the mineral deposits, of chrysotile (asbestos) and chromite, once

valuable to Cyprus’s economy.

We stand dwarfed by massive sheeted dykes, produced as magma traveled

vertically upwards and cooled on its way towards the surface.

John Malpas – he’s the cool dude in blue – holds a roadside lesson aided by

geological maps of the area and surrounded by members of the Geology Group

17

The massive sheeted dykes at Kilrou Bridge

Remember to tune in to the March 2018 edition of Ad Lib to learn the whole story

behind the trip and of this incredible island’s beginnings.

Better still, come and join the Geology Group when we meet at the Axiothea Hotel

Paphos on the first and third Tuesdays of the month.

Contact Anneke on 99152875 or Keith on 99792579.