Cyprus umbers: Chemical precipitates on a Tethyan ocean ridge

Iron-rich mudstones (umbers), directly overlying pillow lavas of the Troodos Massif, Cyprus, are interpreted as precipitates connected with late stages of volcanism on a Cretaceous ocean ridge. Chemical composition of the basal sediments allies them with the basal iron-rich sediments of the East Pacific Rise. Overlying radiolarites and chalks are more comparable to normal pelagic sediments. Sedimentary features and stratigraphic relations suggest rapid deposition of umbers, relative to the overlying sediments.