Nisyros
Geosites
The Nisyros Geopark includes abundant geosites of interest, extending from the enormous volcanic craters of the caldera, the heart of Nisyros island, and the thermal springs to the volcanic islets that surround it. The natural landscape of the geopark hosts a wide variety of magnificent volcanic landforms shaped by natural processes, where visitors can experience the great power of volcanoes. All the geosites offer quick and easy access to memorable outdoor experiences.
Interactive Map01. Nisyros
The area of the Nisyros Geopark has been formed for thousands of years by both geological forces and human activities.
Located in the southeastern part of the Aegean Sea, Nisyros Geopark stands out for its untouched volcanic-shaped relief.
02. Strongyli
Strongyli islet is a volcanic cone that has a diameter of 3.5km, and contains a 300m wide crater at the top.
This ideal cone-shaped volcanic edifice was recently uplifted as indicated by conglomerates at 50m altitude. It consists of grey andesites, minor pyroclastics and a thin layer of rhyolitic pumice from eruptions of nearby Yali island that suggest its relative age is older. Oceanographic missions using the THETIS submersible and the ROV Hercules revealed that in the submarine area of the islet, along the NW flank, an underwater crater of several meters in diameter exists along with fractures in different directions, between NE-SW to E-W. New underwater craters trending ENE-WSW were also discovered, but without any sign of hydrothermal activity (Nomikou and Papanikolaou 2010b; Nomikou et al. 2013a,b).
03. Pergousa - Pachia
The Pergousa volcanic islet consists of weathered thick lava flows and domes of andesitic to dacitic composition, which are covered by pumice deposits of KPT from nearby Kos (they were deposited in a submarine environment, as indicated by bivalves and biogenic remains).
Furthermore, the absence of pumices from Nisyros and Yali shows that the islet was completely underwater during the time of the young Plinian-type eruptions of these islands, and that it very recently uplifted to expose the KPT deposits.
Pachia volcanic islet features basal dacitic lavas overlain by two pumice sequences of the KPT.
Out of these, the lower features sedimentary structures that are interpreted as depositions from surge pyroclastic density currents in sandwave phases, and the upper consists of lapilli tuff with lithic blocks. However, the highest part of the islet is covered by a thin layer of ash and fallout lapilli, with an interbedded paleosol, that may be correlated with an eruptive cycle of Nisyros Composite Stratovolcano eruptive cycle.
04. Kandelioussa
Kandelioussa islet is the only one featuring entirely Upper Jurassic limestones, but it is probably the one featuring the most outstanding offshore features.
It forms a regional tectonic horst bordered by two marginal faults trending ENE-WSW, that have produced subsidence of more than 1.3km towards the north and the south (Nomikou and Papanikolaou 2010b). Detailed swath bathymetric map analysis revealed several volcanic domes to the NE of the islet and SW of Nisyros (Nomikou 2004; Nomikou et al. 2013a), while the discovery of an underwater crater at 430m in depth confirmed the volcanic origin of the domes (Papanikolaou and Nomikou 2001).