The Environmental Atlas of Abu Dhabi Emirate

52°E

53°E

54°E

55°E

121

C OASTAL L ANDFORMS S ALT D OMES (D IAPIRS ) & M ESAS (Z EUGEN )

A r a b i a n G u l f

Several of the islands along Abu Dhabi’s coast and further offshore, as well as the hill at Jebel Dhanna on the mainland, are salt domes or diapirs. These circular structures form as buried salt slowly rises to the Earth’s surface, deforming and piercing the overlying layers of rock. Standing on a salt dome, one is likely to see massive and contorted beds of surface layers mixed with ancient basement rocks that were once buried deep below the Earth’s surface. These islands all display similar stratigraphy and surface geology and owe their development to tectonic activity in the Arabian Gulf Basin. These areas of offshore salt diapirism are

often associated with oilfields, although this is not always the case with Abu Dhabi’s salt dome islands.Other prominent landform features found along Abu Dhabi’s coastline are mesas or zeugen . A zeuge is a mushroom-shaped rock formation that has formed where wind-blown sands have eroded weak rocks that are lying below a protective layer of harder rocks. Erosion is concentrated close to the base of the zeuge as sand movement is always greatest at the ground level. The hard layer of the zeuge is typically formed of calcrete, a cemented soil associated with ancient land surfaces.

26°N

26°N

Ra's al- Khaimah

Umm al-Qaiwain

Ajman

Sharjah

Qatar

Dubai

Zeuge

25°N

25°N

Jebel Dhanna Salt Diapir

Mkasib

Sir Bani Yas Salt Diapir

Marawah Marine Biosphere Reserve

Abu Dhabi

Qaffay

Dalma

Muhayyimat

Al Yasat MPA

Ghaghah

Musaffah

Bul Syayeef

Zeuge

Sir Bani Yas

Bani Yas

Al Ain

Jebel Dhanna

Ruwais

Sila'a

Tarif

24°N

24°N

Abu Dhabi Western Region

Habshan

Al Ain Abu Dhabi

Ghayathi

Saudi Arabia

Madinat Zayed

Bu Hasa

Towns

Oman

Large/Medium Towns Small Towns

Administrative Boundaries

Regions

Roads

Dual Carriageway Single Carriageway

Protected Areas Marine

Al Ain

Western Region

20

0

20

40 Kilometres

Liwa

23°N

23°N

52°E

53°E

54°E

55°E

56°E