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Neogene to Quaternary uplift history along the passive margin of the northeastern Arabian Peninsula, eastern Al Hajar Mountains, Oman

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 August 2018

Daniel Moraetis ,
Frank Mattern ,
Andreas Scharf ,
Gianluca Frijia ,
Timothy M. Kusky ,
Ye Yuan  and
Issa El-Hussain
Daniel Moraetis*
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Al-Khod, Muscat 123, Oman
Frank Mattern
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Al-Khod, Muscat 123, Oman
Andreas Scharf
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Al-Khod, Muscat 123, Oman
Gianluca Frijia
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Earth Science, University of Ferrara, Via Saragat 1, 44122, Ferrara, Italy
Timothy M. Kusky
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory for Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, Three Gorges Research Center for Geohazards, Ministry of Education, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China Center for Global Tectonics, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
Ye Yuan
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory for Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, Three Gorges Research Center for Geohazards, Ministry of Education, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
Issa El-Hussain
Affiliation:
Earthquake Monitoring Center, Sultan Qaboos University, Al-Khod, Muscat 123, Oman
*
*Corresponding author at: Department of Earth Sciences, College of Science, Sultan Qaboos University, Al-Khod, Muscat 123, Oman. E-mail address: moraetis@yahoo.gr (D. Moraetis).
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Abstract

This work explores the uplift history of the best exposed marine terraces in the northeastern Arabian Peninsula (eastern Al Hajar Mountains). A multidisciplinary approach was employed, including a topographic survey, 14C dating, thin section studies, and scanning electron microscopy analyses. Six distinctive marine terraces with widths ranging from tenth of meters to kilometers and elevations from 5 to ~400 m were studied. These terraces record an along-strike heterogeneous uplift history, while they show temporally variable uplift rates ranging between 0.9 to 6.7 mm/yr, which correlates well with other published uplift rates of marine terraces of the eastern Arabian Peninsula. We attribute the variable uplift along strike of the terraces, to a combination of uplift mechanisms: (1) during early to mid-Miocene along deep-rooted reverse faults that bound large crustal-scale blocks, (2) Pliocene or post-Pliocene uplift on the outer wall of the forebulge of the lower Arabian Plate as it bends to enter the Zagros-Makran subduction zone, and (3) a possible slowdown of subduction for the past ~40 ka.

Keywords

Marine terracesQuaternaryArabian plateTectonic uplift
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 90 , Issue 2 , September 2018 , pp. 418 - 434
Copyright
Copyright © University of Washington. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2018 

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