Geo-Codes used in Online Datasets

For a full breakdown of all the codes used in the project, please view the code list and field list files held in the database section of the digital archive.

Erosion

Erosion is the process by which surface materials (artefacts, organic matter, soil, sediment, rock) are dislodged, transported and removed through the agency of water moving across a surface. Water flows as sheets or concentrated in, with increasing size and discharge, rills, gullies, streams, and rivers). This category focuses on the process of surface deflation (erosion) or inflation (deposition), and is distinguished by categories of natural or cultural origin. Erosion by impact of rain drops (rain splash) is included here.

Code	Definition
Cons	Constructed Anthropogenically. A constructed/deposited surface, e.g., emplacement of fill or construction materials.
Dep	Deposit Area. Is receiving deposition of sediment.
Incise	Incised Surface is characterized by actively incising gullies and channels. Gullies are >50 cm and <10 m deep. Area will likely include sheet erosion features as well, but are subordinate to the larger erosive features.
Mix	Mixed Area. Has marked variability in erosion characteristics, e.g., non and incise are in equal proportions.
Non	None. Surface has no evidence of erosion (other than rain splash) or deposition.
Push	Pushed Anthropogenically. Eroded by blade, scraping or other method of pushing or extracting earth materials away from area.
Sheet	Sheet and rills. Surface has evidence of sheet and/or rill erosion. Rills are less than 50 cm deep. Rain splash erosion is severe. Area will likely include incised erosion features as well, but are subordinate to the smaller erosive features.
Till	Tilled. Tilled earth: evident plough furrows or other forms of cultivation.

Stability

Code	Assessment of stability of unit
I	Excellent
II	Good
III	Poor
IV	Deteriorated
V	Ruined

Land Use

General associations of vegetation, crops and/or structures are noted as they are for the current survey year. Definite identification of land use may require consideration of what crops were grown and harvested during the past year. For example a freshly ploughed field may show signs of cereal grain crops, so 'Gr' is noted rather than 'Cu,' which is reserved for uncertain or unmatched conditions.

Code	Modern land use evident in unit.
Ba	Batha. Sparse vegetation.
Bi	Built, industrial
Cu	Cultivation (other than those already in list)
Fa	Fallow field
Fo	Forest
Ga	Garigue. Low scrub or heath.
Gp	Grass/pasture
Gr	Grains. Barley, wheat.
Ma	Maquis. Tall scrub or heath.
Oc	Orchard/grove with cultivation
Og	Orchard/grove
Ro	Rock/sediment/soil. Barren.
Vi	Vineyard

Morphostratigraphy

Morphostratigraphic units are the basic geomorphological mapping unit comprised of a landform with or without underlying earth materials. This is a map unit which is recognizable in imagery and in the field, has an extent appropriate to the scale of the investigation, and has internal variability which is described, encoded and related in another manner (stratigraphic description, soil description, and their analyses). Alluvium is a sediment deposited by flowing water either in a channel or on a broad plain. Alluvial refers to the process of transporting and depositing alluvium (syn. Fluvial). Colluvium is a sediment deposited by gravity and/or sheets of surface water (other than channelised flow - see alluvium). Typically on hillslopes.

Code	Term	Definition
ac	Alluvium with colluvium
af	Alluvial fan	A broad constructional surface of alluvium with a fan-like shape, having an apex fed by a single stream/river.
ag	Alluvium, chiefly gravel	An accumulation of rock fragments coarser than sand (>2mm diameter). Material generally consists of granules (2-4 mm diameter), pebbles (4-64mm diameter), cobbles (64-256 mm), and boulders (>256 mm).
ai	Alluvium, chiefly silt	Sedimentary particles 1/256 to 1/16 mm in diameter. Individual particles are difficult or impossible to see with the naked eye. Silt will feel gritty when wetted and rubbed against teeth or between finger nails but will feel soft when rubbed between finger and thumb.
al	Alluvial floodplain deposits	A relatively planar surface adjacent to a river that floods during high water stages.
ap	Pediment alluvium	A broad constructional surface with alluvial deposit only as thick as parent river channel is deep. Underlain by strath (abrasion or cut) surface on underlying material (typically bedrock).
as	Alluvium, chiefly sand	Sedimentary particles 1/16 to 2 mm in diameter. Individual sand grains are generally visible to the naked eye and are rough and abrasive when rubbed between the fingers.
at	Alluvial terrace	An abandoned floodplain. A relatively flat surface, or tread, (with gentle slopes parallel to the flood plain slope) located outside of the area of high water flooding, but where the river once flowed during high-water events. Floodplains become terraces when rivers incise and leave a floodplain elevationally above the high-water levels. Terraces can be of erosional or depositional origin. Also used for former seashores in the term marine terrace.
ca	Transitional alluvial/colluvial units
cc	Active colluvial cones
cf	Fine gravelly colluvium
cg	Gravelly colluvium
cl	Landslide	A mass movement feature on a hill slope consisting of a mass of earth that has 'failed' or moved down slope under the influence of gravity.
cm	Mudflow/debris flow	A hyper-concentrated flow of water and sediment.
cr	Terrace risers	Slope, typically steep, separating treads (colluvial and alluvial surfaces).
ct	Triangular colluvial facets	Triangular-shaped surfaces of >5 deg. Slope surrounded by steep (>20 deg. risers) surfaces. Typically depositionally isolated from parent hill slope.
fc	Paleo-channel	An abandoned river/stream channel.
ff	Floodplain
fg	1st to 2nd order gully	A small, generally steep sided valley that has cut into sediment or soil cover in a landscape. Gullies are usually greater than 0.5m deep and may be more than 10m across. Gullies may be straight, but generally have greater sinuosity than do rills. 1st and 2nd order refer to their respective position on the landscape. 1st order are at the beginning of a drainage network, with higher orders farther downstream.
fr	River channel	River bed or channel - confined area in which water flows at medium to high stages in a river. Generally box- to half-circle-shaped in cross section with irregular topography both along the base and walls of the channel. Can also be thought of as the area below the floodplain where water is concentrated.
ft	Thalweg	The flow line of maximum velocity in a river/stream channel.
hf	Fill/trapped sediments	Deposits of natural and/or cultural processes behind embankments of natural or cultural construction.
hh	Highway or road fill	Earth material used in the construction of a road or highway.
hl	Landfill and "moved" material	Earth moved in the course of human activities, including heaps, field piles, etc.
hm	Mine tailings	Spoils and crushed ore rock in mining area.
hq	Quarries	Excavations related to the extraction of Earth materials.
ht	Anthropogenic terraces	Constructed treads on hill slopes.
hw	Anthropogenic walls	Dry stack, concrete and other constructions of vertical or near-vertical walls/embankments which act to collect, store or otherwise entrap soil/sediment on a hill slope.

Morphostratigraphy Age

Code	Age of morphostratigraphy in unit.
H	Holocene
M	Modern
P	Pleistocene
Q	Quaternary

Soil Carbonate

Soils in Cyprus accumulate calcium carbonate with time, from none (Ka) to completely engulfed (K46). Except for the mountainous core of the Troodos, Cypriot soils are generally considered calcareous. The accumulation of carbonate results in a progression of recognisable morphologies in profile. Older soils have massive accumulations that cement the soil together into what some refer to as caliche, a defunct term. The categories set here are based on the six categories commonly used by soil scientists in the arid regions of the world. A separate comparator chart is used to determine these categories.

Code	Soil carbonate in unit
K1	A light dusting of CaCO3
K2	Continuous clast coatings (gravel) or few to common nodules (non gravelly)
K3	Continuity of fabric high in CaCO3
K46	Partly or entirely cemented
Ka	Absent
Ku	Undifferentiated

Soil Cover

Microphytic crust develops on the surface of soil under various conditions. The ground-covering, low-lying biota are inextricably attached to the soil, forming a mm to cm thick crust that detaches with ease from the underlying soil. The crust is coherent enough that it does not fully crumble away after extraction from the surface.

Code	Type of soil cover in unit.
Sab	Absent. Bare, tilled, etc. ground.
Shg	Herbs, graminae and other plants
Sli	Lichens
Sln	Leaf and needles
Smi	Mix. Combination of Sl, Sm and/or Sh
Smo	Moss
Sot	Other

Soil Texture

Soil texture is determined on the basis of feel and visual inspection. The fine earth fraction, or texture, is an estimate of the relative amounts of sand, silt and clay (all <2 mm mean diameter) in the surface soil horizon. Chart provided to determine this.

Code	Soil texture
C	Clay
CL	Clay loam
CL	Clay loam
L	Loam
LS	Loamy sand
S	Sand
SC	Sandy clay
SCL	Sandy clay loam
Si	Silt
SiC	Silty clay
SiCL	Silty clay loam
SiL	Silty loam
SL	Sandy loam

Soil Texture Coarse

Description of coarse modifiers in unit soil. The largest particles are noted as a modifier of the texture if the volume percentage of coarse fragments is >=15%. If the percentage is >=90% then use only the coarse fragment name.


bo	Bouldery >600 mm.
co	Cobbly 76-600 mm. Includes stones.
gr	Gravelly 2-76 mm.

Substratum

Substratum is designate for the earth material underlying the geomorphological unit, in general, and the morphostratigraphic unit, in particular. Bedrock formation name is used in this field unless bedrock is (1) not visible at the surface and (2) more than 1 meter below the surface (as seen in gullies, excavations, etc.). In these cases use the appropriate alluvial or colluvial morphostratigraphic code/term (see above) in this field on the GU form. Bedrock is the hard, consolidated rock underlying the sediment cover. Typically rings if struck by a hammer (see below). Two general types of bedrock are recognized in central Cyprus: the Troodos Ophiolite and overlying sedimentary rocks of the Mesaoria.

Code	Term	Definition
Bo	Ophiolite rocks
Bob	Basal group	Complex rock types, visibly crystalline. Formed beneath the Sheeted Dike Complex, and thus present in the central Troodos.
Bod	Sheeted dike	A sequence of planar layers of igneous rock that were intruded into older (Lower Pillow Lava) rocks. Generally dikes are intrusions emplaced at high angles or vertically, while the term sill is reserved for horizontal intrusions.
Bop	Pillow basalt	A basaltic rock that was extruded below the sea floor. As the basalt erupts it forms long tubes, which cooled and hardened on the outside allowing hot lava to continue flowing on the inside. These tubes flow out over each other to form the primary sea floor basalts at mid-ocean ridges. When the pillow lavas are brought above ocean level and exposed via erosion they typically are observed to be round pillow-shaped units in cross section, thus the term pillow lavas. The Pillow Lavas on Cyprus are subdivided into the Upper and Lower Pillow Lavas, the former hosting the copper and gold ore bodies at the top of the Ophiolite below the sedimentary rocks.
Bu	Sedimentary rock
Buc	Chert	A siliceous sedimentary rock, formed on the seafloor, that rings when hammer struck; does not fizz. Has been extensively utilized for lithic tool manufacture.
Bug	Conglomerate	A consolidated sedimentary rock made up of gravel in a finer grained matrix.
Buk	Unknown
Bul	Limestone	A sedimentary rock comprised dominantly of calcium carbonate; should fizz when tested with hydrochloric acid. In comparison with a chalk or marl, limestone is hard and should ring when struck with a hammer.
Bum	Marl	A soft, earthy, fine textured limestone that may include up to 50% non-calcareous clay. Should fizz when tested with hydrochloric
Bus	Sandstone	Sedimentary rock composed of particles 1/16 to 2 mm in diameter. Individual sand grains are generally visible to the naked eye and are rough and abrasive when rubbed between the fingers; sand is cemented into rock.

Surface Stability

Stability of the landscape is particularly important for the assessment of the surface archaeological record, is characterized in terms of the degree of preservation of the surface soil horizons that presumably were there at the time of the deposition of the artefacts. This schema does not allow for the case where the A horizon is eroded prior to the deposition of artefacts. The reference time frame is the year 2000, unless otherwise noted.

Code	Term	Definition
Erode	A Horizon gone and sub-A horizon	Soil A horizon is fully eroded away and sub-soil horizons or layers exposed (e.g. bedrock) are exposed at surface.
Stable	A Horizon intact	Soil has an organic-rich crust (root mat; microphytic crust of moss, lichen and herbaceous plants) and/or an A horizon of greater than 1 cm thickness. The A horizon is defined by the presence of roots and other plant matter within a horizon, which is at least faintly darker in Munsell colour value (>1 ), is still intact, although it may be reduced in thickness.
Strip	All surface soil and sediment stripped	All soil horizons and sediment are removed to expose a bedrock away surface over more than 90% of the area.
Unstab	A Horizon removed from >30% area	Soil A horizon is significantly reduced in thickness and eroded areas account for more than 30% of the surface area.