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Rapid late Pleistocene/Holocene uplift and coastal evolution of the southern Arabian (Persian) Gulf

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Warren W. Wood ,
Richard M. Bailey ,
Brian A. Hampton ,
Thomas F. Kraemer ,
Zhong Lu ,
David W. Clark ,
Rhodri H.R. James  and
Khalid Al Ramadan
Warren W. Wood*
Affiliation:
Michigan State University, USA University of Oxford, UK U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA, USA King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia
Richard M. Bailey
Affiliation:
University of Oxford, UK
Brian A. Hampton
Affiliation:
Michigan State University, USA
Thomas F. Kraemer
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA, USA
Zhong Lu
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, Vancouver, WA, USA
David W. Clark
Affiliation:
National Drilling Company/U. S. Geological Survey, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
Rhodri H.R. James
Affiliation:
University of Oxford, UK
Khalid Al Ramadan
Affiliation:
King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia
*
*Corresponding author at: Michigan State University, USA. E-mail address:wwwood@msu.edu(W.W. Wood).
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Abstract

The coastline along the southern Arabian Gulf between Al Jubail, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Dubai, UAE, appears to have risen at least 125 m in the last 18,000 years. Dating and topographic surveying of paleo-dunes (43–53 ka), paleo-marine terraces (17–30 ka), and paleo-marine shorelines (3.3–5.5 ka) document a rapid, > 1 mm/a subsidence, followed by a 6 mm/a uplift that is decreasing with time. The mechanism causing this movement remains elusive but may be related to the translation of the coastal area through the backbasin to forebulge hinge line movement of the Arabian plate or, alternatively, by movement of the underlying Infracambrian-age Hormuz salt in response to sea-level changes associated with continental glaciation. Independent of the mechanism, rapid and episodic uplift may impact the design of engineering projects such as nuclear power plants, airports, and artificial islands as well as the interpretation of sedimentation and archeology of the area.

Keywords

Landscape evolutionArabian Gulf, Persian Gulf, UAESaudi ArabiaTectonics, salt tectonics
Type
Short Paper
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 77 , Issue 2 , March 2012 , pp. 215 - 220
Copyright
University of Washington

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