Former gypsum quarries.

Old gypsum quarries
At the slopes of the abandoned gypsum quarries east of the Kato Moni village, impressive shiny evaporite deposits are exposed. Evaporites are sedimentary rocks (such as gypsum) that were formed when seawater evaporated and salts precipitated and settled on the bottom of an enclosed basin.
Gypsum deposits were formed between 5.96 and 5.33 million years ago (Upper Miocene, Messinian) and represent a significant event in the geological history of the Mediterranean region, known as the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC). During MSC the Mediterranean Sea level dropped significantly (up to 2 km), as a result of the reduced circulation of sea water between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea due to the closure of the Gibraltar strait and the climatic conditions (evaporation, rainfall and river runoff) that prevailed. This led to widespread salt precipitation around the Mediterranean Sea, and in small tectonically controlled isolated hypersaline basins around Troodos, such as the small basin near the Kato Moni village, in which the maximum brine depth was probably less than 100 m.
At this location, gypsum mainly occurs in two varieties such as laminated gypsum and selenite with colour variations (transparent, grey, beige to white). Selenite deposits are the transparent gypsum crystals that formed in shallow low energy waters (no deeper than 10 m) at the basin margins. Laminated gypsum deposits are the alternating grey and beige finely gypsum laminae (1–3 mm thick), which formed across the entire basin from the action of bottom currents and are known as “marmara”. This type of gypsum has been used for centuries as interior floor tiles and courtyard paving slabs.

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