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HOLOCENE COASTAL FLAT SEDIMENTS

Preamble
Traced from seaward to landward the coastline of Abu Dhabi consists of a complex
of barrier islands and tidal deltas, lagoons and tidal flats and the entire province is
constant evolving. The barrier islands east of Al Dhabaiya lie close together and are
separated by narrow tidal channels and deltas. These islands are "T" shaped, with
the top of the "T"s lying seaward and parallel to the trend of the coast and at right
angles to the dominant wind direction (Evans et al. 1964a, b).
Here oolites accumulate on the higher energy inter island ebb tidal deltas, while
coral reefs are restricted to small patches seaward of the islands between them and
along the tidal channels (Evans et al. 1964a, b). carbonate muds and pellets collect
south of the barrier in the protected lagoons. The elongate stems of the islands
separate these lagoons. Tidal movement within these lagoons tends to be at right
angles to the coast.
West of Al Dhabaiya Island, the protecting barrier islands are more widely separated
from each other than those to the east. They occur on extensive sandy shoals and
coral banks cut by tidal channels. carbonate muds accumulate only in a narrow belt
south of the offshore bank and grapestones and skeletal debris are the dominant
sediment components (Kendall & Skipwith 1968). The Khor al Bazam lagoon south
of the barrier is a continuous open body of water. It has less restricted circulation
than the lagoons to the northeast and its western end is connected to the Arabian
Gulf. At the west end it reaches 20 m of depth. Eastward, the lagoon shallows, so
that south of the island of Abu al Abayad, it is intertidal, and the circulation of the
tidal waters becomes restricted. The dominant tidal movement in the Khor al Bazam
is east west. North of the Khor al Bazam coral reefs rim the northern flanks of most
of the offshore banks. South of the bank and the Khor al Bazam, in the protected
waters of the eastern lagoon, supratidal flats are encroaching northward into the
lagoon through the development of beach ridges and cyanobacterial
flats accumulation. The situation is similar to south of the Abu Dhabi lagoons; here
maximum protection from the dominant north northwest wind has enabled
extensive cyanobacterial flats to form, accreting northward in the intertidal zone.
These flats are flanked by the supratidal "sabkha" (Evans et al. 1964a, b) without
any break in slope.
In contrast, along the more exposed coasts of the western Khor al Bazam, small
beach ridges are common at the landward edge of the intertidal platform. Here the
beaches on the islands are protected from waves by broad coral reefs and shoals,
forming wide frontal intertidal flats that are backed by small subaerial dunes 1 to 2
m in height. Differences in exposure to waves are reflected in the barrier islands to
the east too. Thus the islands around Abu Dhabi are positioned on a narrow shelf
with little protection from heavy seas. Before the now extensive industrial
development of this coastline these easternmost islands developed steep beach

faces, landward of which large subaerial dunes with heights greater than 5 m once
formed.

DEPOSITIONAL SETTINGS LISTED ON THIS


SITE
LINKS
INTRODUCTION TO GEOMORPHIC UNITS
OF THE COASTAL COMPLEX OF
ABU DHABI INCLUDING
Open marine shelf
Offshore bank - shoal, channel and barrier
islands
Lagoons
Coastal terrace
and Mainland coastal plain
CORAL REEFS
Reefs Seaward of Abu al Abyad
Reefs Seaward of Dhabaiya
Reefs Seaward of Janana & Salaha
Reefs Lining Tidal Creeks
Reefs Seaward of Coastal Terraces of West
Khor al Bazam

OOID SHOALS ABU DHABI & KHOR AL


BAZAM
Tidal Deltas of Eastern Abu Dhabi
Coastal Terraces East of Jebel Dhanna

GRAPESTONE COVERED TERRACES KHOR


AL BAZAM
Quala Bay
Mirfa
Ras al Aish

BEACH TRAVERTINES & OOLITIC FACIES


JEBEL DHANNA
Beach Rock Facies
Oolitic Facies

MANGROVE SWAMPS & FACIES AL


DHABAIYA
Lower Intertidal Sand/Mud Flats and Indurated
Hardgrounds
Mangrove Lined Creeks
Cyanobacterial Facies
gypsum Dunes
EVAPORITES AND CARBONATE FACIES AL
QANATIR
Lower Intertidal Sand/Mud Flats and Indurated
Hardgrounds
The Cyanobacterial Facies
The gypsum Mush Facies
The Mid Salt Flat Facies
The Upper Salt Flat Facies Seaward of Beach
Ridges
The Stranded Beach Ridge Facies
The Upper Salt Flat Facies Landward of Beach
Ridges

SOME AEOLIAN FACIES OF UAE


Coastal Dunes
gypsum Dunes of Mangrove Swamps
Pleistocene Miliolite of the coastal regions
carbonate Rich Barchan Fields of Landward of
coastal sabkhas
Red Stained quartz Barchan Dunes at margin
to Rhub al Khali

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