CIV 442

HYDROLOGY
LECTURE 2: INTRO TO HYDROGEOLOGY
OF UAE

Prof. Evan K. Paleologos

Civil Engineering
 THE SABKHA
Sabkha: Coastal area, just above
normal high-tide level, where
evaporite minerals accumulate,
below mud or sand, as a result of
arid conditions

Photo: Reem, December 2014

 SABKHAS AND GROUNDWATER
The water table in the
sabkhas is found a few tens
of cms below surface. In
the interior at sandy
locations the water table is
meters or tens of m below
the surface.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rub%27_al_Khali
http://www.southampton.ac.uk/~imw/Qa
tar-Sabkhas.htm
 Gypsum ,anhydrite, and halite are called marine evaporites.
EVAPORITES These layers are produced when a shallow sea exists over an
area with little wave activity (so that little influx of fresh or
sea water takes place) and in climates where evaporation
exceeds precipitation.

Gypsum (CaSO4.2H2O: Calcium Sulfate Dihydrate) is very

similar to Anhydrite (CaSO4). The chemical difference is that
gypsum contains two waters and anhydrite is without water.

Uses of Gypsum
Gypsum uses include: drywall or wallboard, cement, soil
conditioning, a hardening retarder in Portland cement.
Varieties of gypsum known as "satin spar" and "alabaster" are
used for a variety of ornamental purposes; however, their
low hardness limits their durability.

Halite (rock salt): NaCl

(Sodium Chloride)
Alabaster gypsum jar
CONDITIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT
OF GYPSUM AND HALITE

At: cross sectional area of

mouth
A0: Surface area of bay

Graph shows the relation

between the ratio of A0/At and
salinity where gypsum or halite
starts precipitating at the sea
bottom
EVAPORITES
 EVAPORITES

Photos: Reem Island,

December 2014
 EVAPORITES
Check the depth of the Arabian Gulf and find the
ratio of A0/At
 EVAPORITES
Evaporation of sea-water
causes the precipitation of
certain minerals in a well
defined order. When sea-water
has been concentrated 3.8
times due to evaporation,
gypsum (CaSO4•2H20)
precipitates.

WHY DO WE PROTECT
STRUCTURES FROM
SULFATES?

Photo: 03 Jan 2015

 EVAPORITES

Halite (NaCl) follows when concentrations exceed

10 times sea-water values. Other mineral
precipitation, after halite, is more complex. Upon
burial gypsum may lose water and turn into
anhydrite (CaSO4).

Evaporites exist in much more extensive layers

deeper in the ground, in the saturated zone, and
are evidence of the evaporation of ancient
shallow seas that covered the area of UAE.
HOW DO EVAPORITES LOOK?

Photos: Reem Island,

January 2015
HOW HIGH WAS THE SEA AT ABU DHABI WHEN
THE EVAPORITES WERE CREATED?

Photos: Reem Island,

January 2015
TETHYS
OCEAN
251 to 65.5
MILLION YEARS
AGO
 CEMENTATION

Binding sand together to create a crust

Reem Island, Nov 2014
 CEMENTATION

Bacterial mats and calcium

carbonate minerals precipitated
by evaporation bind sediments
together in a cement-like
fashion.

Calcium carbonate, CaCO3,

depending on the conditions (pH,
temperature, or pressure) can
dissolve or precipitate.

Reem Island, Nov 2014

 CACO3: DISSOLUTION

Reem Island,
Nov 2014

Reaction with water saturated with carbon dioxide (for example

infiltrated rain water): CaCO3 + CO2 + H2O → Ca(HCO3)2 will yield
the soluble calcium bicarbonate. This reaction leads to the
erosion of carbonate rocks and fracturing, thus, developing fast
flow paths and leading sometimes to underground caverns (karst).
 CACO3: PRECIPITATION

Reem Island,
Nov 2014

CaCO3 is poorly soluble in water with its solubility increasing

with decreasing temperature, and increasing pressure. When
conditions favor precipitation CaCO3 develops mineral coatings
on grains cementing them together or filling fractures.
MICROBIAL MATS
MICROBIAL MATS

Reem Island
Dec 2014
 MICROBIAL MATS
Thin layers of cyano-bacterial mat (0-60 cm thickness) are
encountered at coastal locations in Abu Dhabi. At the east end
of the Khor Al Bazam lagoon cyano-bacterial mats, together
with the associated tidal sands and muds, parallel the coast for
42 km, and in other locations they parallel the coast for 9 km.

Source: http://arch.ced.berkeley.edu/hiddenecologies/?p=349

A cyano-bacteria mat is a layer of bacteria forming a soft,

gelatinous mat on the bottom of a salt marsh or shallow sea.
Cyano-bacteria tie up the CO2 from the atmosphere to produce
oxygen and fix carbon as glucose. Thus, these bacteria are
“sinks” of the atmospheric CO2 produced by human activities,
and oxygen-producers (measurement of the average oxygen
bubble, shown in the figure, indicated a minimum of 2.7 lt of
O2 per m2 produced in a sunny day).
 MANGROVES

The term mangrove describes

collectively 110 species of
trees of various heights that
grow in saline, tide-
dominated areas, aiding in the
entrapment of sediment. They
are found in tropical and sub-
tropical areas and are highly
specialized in their response
to anoxic conditions, high
salinity, and tidal inundation.
 MANGROVES
Oxygen intake is accomplished
with some of the roots
protruding above water level;
salt is filtered up to 90-97% by
the roots, excluding it from the
plant, or being secreted by the
leaves.
 MANGROVES

The roots at low tide

 MANGROVES

The roots at high tide

 MANGROVES
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4h5i_kN-Q_A

Limiting evaporation is achieved by

restricting pores on their leaves and
orienting leaves in directions that
avoid harsh midday sun.
 MANGROVES

Role:
 Stabilize soil

 Trap nutrients

 Reduce tidal and tsunami

effects
 Aesthetic
Photos: Reem, Dec 2014
MANGROVES
Role: Sustain ecosystems
(crabs, fish, birds, animals)
 MANGROVES
Dolphin Island,
October 2014

Mangroves are threatened by

the global climate change and the sea-level rising
because the roots need some hours per day to be in
the air
 TIDAL LAGOONS
A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger
body of water by barrier islands or reefs. Coastal lagoons are
young and dynamic, and may be short-lived in geologic terms. 
Salinities in certain lagoons in the Arab Gulf
exceed 50 ppt, whereas normal seawater is 35
SALINITIES IN THE
ARABIAN GULF
ppt.
Normal Marine Environment; salinities up to
50 ppt.
Salinities in this range occur throughout the
greater part of the Arabian Gulf. The http://www.natural-history-conservation.com/adwhaleskull.htm
associated fauna and flora is an impoverished
Indo-Pacific one. Although listed here as
"normal", the bulk of "normal" Arabian Gulf
water is already slightly altered, salinity
everywhere being over 39 ppt. within the
Straits of Hormuz.
Within the range of the "normal" environment,
it was found that at approximately 45 ppt
salinity, several important groups disappear.
The area off the UAE is mostly above 45 ppt.
Restricted Environment, salinities 50 to
70ppt.
Faunas are dominated by foraminifera and
gastropods. There is widespread hardground
lithification of the sediments; the rock
substrate supports a prolific growth of brown
algae which are the favored habitat of many
foraminfera.
http://www.ryanphotographic.com/foraminif
era.htm
Gastropods are particularly abundant in
shallow subtidal and intertidal environments.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastropoda

Highly Restricted Environment, salinities ca.

70 ppt.
Little is known regarding the faunas
inhabiting restricted lagoonal areas with
salinities in excess of 65 ppt. Certain isolated
lagoons, including the north side of Khor
Foraminfera
Odaid in SE Qatar, seem to be faunal deserts
containing little more than ostracods. Gastropods
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostracod
End Lecture Notes