Tuesday, September 6, 2011

06/09/2011 Greece VII: Livadi

Today, we did a bit of exploring around Livadi (Λιβάδι), an attractive and affluent village west of Olympos. To the north and east of the village, fragments of ophiolite have been found. This area was the focus of a Cambridge PhD completed by Damian Nance in 1975. 

Livadi Village

The ophiolitic fragments are distinct from those seen in the Hellenic ophiolites to the west. We only succeeded in getting to the most southerly fragment - the others are either in dense forest or outcrop along a narrow track that Annie wasn't happy driving along. Nevertheless, the harzburgites we saw were enough to keep us thinking. Serpentine blebs mark a prominent foliation in the rocks, which has not remained planar, but instead undulates gently across large blocks. Chlorite appears to be a later mineral growth, suggesting reheating of the ultramafic bodies.

The ophiolitic fragments are surrounded by Pelagonian schists, including some very attractive metafelsites with large quartzo-feldspathic augen.

Augen Schist, East of Livadi


We returned to Grevena early, and rested until the evening, when Anna joined myself and Annie for dinner at the Ekavi (Εκάβι).

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