The pre-Neogene rocks of Crete overthrust around the autochtonus rock core of the island and consist mainly of dark grey, coarsely crystalline, slightly metamorphosed limestones, with intercalated bands of chert. The Plattenkalk series include the White Mountain range, Ida, Talea, those of Lasithi and Ornos and the promontory of Agios Ioannis. The pre-Neogene rocks are very hard and have water veins. The topography of Crete, as in the rest of Greece, is karstic and its main features are the great number of caves, the springs and the swallow-holes the so-called katavothres. The first nappe is the Trypalli, massive limestones and dolomites mainly in the western part of the island. It was formed between the Late Triassic and the Early Jurassic period. Above this lies the Phyllite-Quartzite series, dating to the Permian and Triassic period.

This formation occurs in the subsoil of south-western Crete and in the region of Ornos, west of the Ierapetra isthmus, but also in other parts of the island. The Pindus-Ethea nappe is lower. It is constituted of a collection of intermediary nappe fragments, the Subpelagonian series and they are combined into the system of Ophiolites. The combination of Serpentinite and Amphibolite is another rock of this collection. The limestone series Gavrono-Tripolitza forms different mountain ranges from the eastern end of the island to the western which include Mt. Psiloritis and the mountains of Lasithi. The limestone sediments of this series were deposited during the Late Triassic period to the Middle Eocene, roughly 220-45 million years ago. Flysch, a rock which occurs usually in Psiloritis and the Asterousia mountains is probably a nappe of the Tripolitza series.