Oman's smashing Geology

From a geological
perspective it may be said
that Oman appeared on
the horizon of the outside
world with the discovery
of oil.
Like its culture, Oman’s
geological heritage has
survived relatively intact.
There is a lot of geology
in Oman spanning a wide
window in time, covering
hundreds of millions of
years of earth history,
from the very beginning
of life on earth. Its
geology also covers an
exceptional wide range of
rocks, exposed in all their
details by the desert
climate. Like a book,
quite often missing a few
pages, torn out by the
very geological processes
that wrote the book, but
still very readable to
anybody that is willing to
open it.
Being a geologist in Oman is great. There is the
Pre-Cambrian, the time before life as we know
it developed on earth, cropping-out in the core
of the Oman Mountains, but also in the Huqf
area in Central East Oman. Old glacial rocks tell
a story of global glaciations that are known as
‘ice-ball’ earth. Overlying massive limestones
erode with spectacular deep canyons that are
great for ‘canyoning’ with a lot of swimming
and climbing. Oman rocks feature the
transition from the Pre-Cambrian to the
Cambrian, with primitive life developing
approximately 542 million years ago preserved
in an exceptionally complete succession of Tracks left by Cambrian trilobites, some 400-
limestone and rock-salt from which also oil is 500 million years ago (just picture something
being produced in South Oman. looking like big woodlice) in the Huqf of Central
Oman (2003).

Qarat Kibrit, 2003, cave in Cambrian-

Precambrian (± 540 million years old) rock salt,
pushed from deep down all the way up to the
surface.
Massive earth movements left these early
rocks tilted and overlain by much younger
rocks. In the Huqf area there is a much
younger (Permian) glaciation that left deep ice-
carved groves in the older rocks. It is a weird
feeling to see and feel these ‘ice’ rocks in the
middle of a desert. There are rocks in which
one can find primitive life, such as trilobites
and crinoids. Fossil hunting in the desert is
great! From rocks in an old oil well in central
Oman come samples of the earliest plants
found in the world. Deep wells in south Oman
have recovered possibly the oldest volcanic
glass in the world. Other rocks have released Deep grooves left in Precambrian rocks by
remains of some of the oldest fish in the world. Permian (300 million years ago) ice, Huqf area,
2003.
Yet younger limestones form the high peaks of
the Oman Mountains, flanked by spectacular
scarps. The limestones act as a large storage
buffer for the sparse rainfall. That water feeds
springs high up along the scarps of the
mountains. That’s where people have carved
terraced gardens fed by water through age-old
water channels (falaj) sustaining a peaceful
existence for many thousands of years.

The village of Al Ain on the edge of the Saiq

Plateau in the Hajar Mountains. Notice the
terraced gardens that are dependent on spring
water from the limestone rocks just below the
village (2005)
Rim walk along the vertical limestone cliffs of Pillow lavas in the Ophiolite rocks, wadi Jizzi
the Nakhr gorge near Jabal Shams in the Hajar (Sohar, 2003), originally lava flows like those
Mountains. flowing in the sea at Hawaii.
The mountains are flanked by the black Copper that was found in these rocks has been
Ophiolites and deep sea sediments. These mined already many thousands of years ago,
rocks originate from a now completely with copper artifacts originating from Oman
disappeared ocean called Tethys that closed found in excavations of the ancient civilizations
some 90 million years ago in a titanic struggle in Mesopotamia and India.
for space between continental and oceanic
plates. Oceanic crust, consisting of deep rocks
from the earth’s mantle (originally some 6-7
km deep), together with overlying magmatic
and volcanic rocks, were pushed on top of the
eastern edge of the Arabian plate. These are
the black rocks that form the backdrop of the
Muscat area 9some call it a natural furnace in
summer times), but also as far north as Sohar.
The Oman Mountains were only formed in
relatively recent geological time, some 10
million years ago, related to the opening of the
Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden and the collision
of the Arabian plate against the Eurasian plate,
with Iran in the crush zone. Oman’s northern
tip, Musandam, at the straits of Hormuz, is
slowly pushed down as a result of this collision
and that explains Musandam’s magnificent
drowned coastline (like fjords).
 Khor Najd, Musandam; a drowned coastline
with massive limestone cliffs rising from the
azure sea. The northeastern flank of
Musandam is gradually subsiding, pushed
down at the edge of the Arabian plate in a
gigantic struggle with the Iranian edge of the
Eurasian plate (2005).
Most people associate deserts with sand, but
most deserts are actually rocky. Oman is no
exception, but there are also the classical
deserts, the well known Wahiba Sands (Al
Sharqiya Sands) just south of the Mountains,
and the huge Sea of Sand flanking the western
border of Oman with Saudi Arabia; the Rub Al
Khali, or Empty Quarter. Perhaps surprising are
the huge sabkha’s, large flat areas where water
evaporates leaving salt, anhydrite and mud,
not only along the coast but also in the
interior. The large wadi’s draining the Oman
mountains end in the desert, with the lowest
area forming the huge Umm As Samim sabkha, The enormous sabkha of the Umm As Samim
literally translated as the ‘mother of poison’, a
name that does not leave a lot to the
imagination.

Rub Al Khali, near the border with Saudi Arabia The Rub Al Khali, massive sand dunes as far as
(2007) the eye ca see (2007)
Oman must be one of those places in the world
where the direct link between geology and the
world we live in is most clear.

Sunset over Jabal Khawr, Hajar Mountains,

2006

Further Reading
For the Professional
Glennie, K.W, M.G.A. Boeuf, M.W. Hughes Clarke, M. Moody-Stuart, W.F.H. Pilaar and B.M.
Reinhardt, 1974, Geology of the Oman Mountains, Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk
Nederlands Geologisch Mijnbouwkundig Genootschap, deel 31 (NE ISSM 0075-6741).
Lees, G.M. 1928, The geology and Tectonics of Oman and parts of south-eastern Arabia.
Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, 84, 585-670.
Wilson, H.H., 1969, Late Cretaceous eugeosynclinal sedimentation, gravity tectonics and
ophiolite emplacement in the Oman Mountains, southeastern Arabia, American Association of
Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 53, 626-671.
The surface geology of Oman was mapped from 1982-1984 by the French Bureau de
Récherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM).
For the professional and lay-man:
Blanford , W.T., 1872, Note on MASKAT AND MASSANDIM ON THE EAST COAST OF ARABIA, by
W.T. Blanford, A.R.S.M., F.G.S., Deputy Superintendent, Geological Survey of India. RECORDS OF
THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA Vol. 5 ,Part 3 {August 1872} Page 75-77.
Glennie, K.W. (ed), 2006, Oman's Geological Heritage, 2nd edition (check-out www.pdo.co.om)
Glennie, K.W., 2005, The Desert of Southeast Arabia, ISBN 99901-04-89-1
Hanna, S. S., 1995, Field-Guide to the Geology of Oman, Published by the Historical Association
of Oman.
Hanna, S. and Mohamed Al Belushi, 1996, Caves of Oman, published by Sultan Qaboos
University (published by International Printing Press, Ruwi Oman)
Hughes Clarke, M., 1990, Oman’s Geological Heritage. Published by Petroleum Development
Oman.
Robertson, A.H.F, M.P. Searle and A.C. Ries, 1990, The Geology and Tectonics of the Oman
Region. Geological Society Special Publication No. 49.
Thomson, A., 2000, Origins of Arabia, Stacey International, ISBN 1 900988 04 6
Symposia and Conferences
Symposium on Ophiolite Genesis and evolution of ocenanic lithosphere. Ministry of Petroleum
and Minerals, Unesco, Sultan Qaboos University Muscat, January 7-18 1990.
International Conference Geology of Oman. Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Unesco and
Sultan Qaboos Univeristy. January 12-18 2001.
General
In the September issue of the PDO magazine "Al Mahal" two contributions on two important
bits of Oman's outstanding geological beauty (Files in Adobe Acrobat PDF Format)
A bit on the geology of the Oman Mountains and the Ophiolites (464 Kbytes)
A bit on the Wahiba (Al Sharquiya) Sands (167 Kbytes)