GeoArabia, Vol. 4, No.

1, 1999
Gulf PetroLink, Bahrain

Quaternary Evolution of Dawhat Zulum (Half Moon Bay) Region

Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia

Ruud Weijermars
Alboran Media Group
(Previously at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals)

ABSTRACT

The Quaternary geology of the Half Moon Bay region, directly south of the
Dammam Peninsula, Saudi Arabia, has been mapped and is outlined in the
present study. The bay is surrounded by sabkha plains and low sand dunes in
a complex morphology which results from the interplay of global sea-level
changes, local uplift of the Dammam Peninsula, dune migration of the Jafurah
Sand Sea, coastal sabkha formation, and influx of the Al-Hasa perennial river.
Half Moon Bay was emergent in the Late Pleistocene for at least 50,000 years,
due to eustatic sea-level changes, but was inundated again during the Late
Pleistocene/Holocene “Flandrian” transgression that started about 12,500 years
before the present (BP) and reached its culmination 4,000 years BP. The regional
climate has fluctuated considerably in the geologic past, with colder, pluvial
episodes occurring, amongst others, during the Early Pleistocene (1.6 to 0.7
million years BP), Middle Pleistocene (560,000 to 325,000 years BP), Wurm glacial
(36,000 to 17,000 years BP) and Neolithic wet phase (10,000 to 6,000 years BP).
Karstification and sinkhole hazards, present in all major carbonate units of the
Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, originated from dissolution during these past
pluvial episodes. During the present-day hot and arid climate, torrential rains
episodically cause overflow of the irrigation network of the Al-Hasa Oasis. The
excess water fills large evaporation ponds which, in turn, feed a perennial river
that transects the dune landscape for some 80 kilometers flowing towards Half
Moon Bay.

INTRODUCTION

Dawhat Zulum, informally known as “Half Moon Bay” or “Khaleej Nisf Al-Qamar”, is located
directly south of the Dammam Peninsula. Its shores consist of sand sheets, sabkhas and eolian
dunes (Figure 1). Three major morphological elements of the coastline of Half Moon Bay can be
distinguished (Figures 1 and 2): the east shore is formed by the Dammam Peninsula with Ra’s Abu
Urayqat at the southern most tip; the southern shore is formed by the Ra’s Al-Qurayyah Peninsula;
and the western shore comprises low dunes of the Jafurah Sand Sea. The complex morphology of
Half Moon Bay is controlled by Quaternary global sea-level changes, local uplift of the Dammam
Peninsula, dune migration of the Jafurah Sand Sea, coastal sabkha formation, and influx of the Al-
Hasa perennial river.

A systematic description of the geology of Half Moon Bay region was undertaken for several reasons.
Firstly, the interleaving and mixing of marine and continental silici-clastics within a sabkha
environment provides a valuable analog for understanding other sabkha deposits in the Arabian
Platform stratigraphy (e.g., Rus Formation). Secondly, its involved Holocene history at the interface
of clastic and carbonate facies in an eolian setting may provide a template for understanding similar
depositional environments elsewhere. Thirdly, the Half Moon Bay region is well-suited for geological
field-trips by the professional and academic communities of Saudi Aramco, King Fahd University
of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), and others. Although some sections and subfacies of this
environment have been discussed by Fryberger et al. (1983), a concise geologic description of the
Half Moon Bay region has never before been attempted.

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 Weijermars

ad
50°00' 50°10'
Dammam

Ro

Da
(Tdm)

iq

mm a
qa
Ab
Qes
Hadrukh

m
Th Bahrain

ld
O
(Th)
Causeway

ay
hw
g
Hi
uf
of

H
Al
Qes
Qsb Aziziyah

26°10'
26°10'

Qsb
ay
ilw
Ra

Coastal Deposits (Qcd)

(4,000 years BP)
Dominant directions
of long shore currents

HALF MOON BAY

Qsb (Maximum depth 10 meters)

Figure 2
Qcd (Recent)
Ra's Abu
Urayqat

North Hill

26°00' 26°00'
South Hill

ARABIAN GULF
JAFURAH Qsb
SAND SEA

Silt Deposits RA'S AL-QURAYYAH PENINSULA

(Qsb) Qsb
Eolian Sand
(Qes)
Eolian Sand
Silt Deposits
Coastal Deposits (Qcd) Calcareous Deposits
(4,000 years BP) Ra's
Al-Qurayyah Hadrukh Formation

0 N 10 Dammam Formation
Late Flandrian
Shoreline (4,000 yr BP)
Km

50°00' 50°10'

Figure 1: Geological map of the Half Moon Bay area. The core of the Dammam Peninsula is
occupied by the Tertiary Dammam Formation (Tdm), and is overlain by the Late Tertiary Hadrukh
Formation (Th). Quaternary deposits distinguished around the bay are: silt deposits on sabkha
plains (Qsb), eolian sands (Qes), and calcareous deposits at the Flandrian high shore (Qcd). Major
access roads are indicated in grey with black outline. High 4,000 year BP shoreline marking the
end of the Flandrian transgression is dashed in blue. The geology was mapped in the field
using Landsat images, basemaps of Steineke et al. (1958) and Roger (1985), and descriptions of
Powers et al. (1966).

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 Half Moon Bay, Saudi Arabia

50°00' 50°10'

26°10'

HALF MOON BAY

Service
Road
North Hill 26°00'

South Hill

26°00'

Delta Region
Al-Hasa River

Dune of
Figures N
6 and 7 Road to Ra’s Al-Qurayyah
0 2
Bridge over
Al-Hasa River
Km

50°00'
Figure 2: False color, enhanced Landsat Thematic Mapper image of the Half Moon Bay area.
Shorelines are flanked by sabkha plains across which transverse and barchan dunes migrate south-
southwest with the prevailing Shamal winds. The Ra’s Al-Qurayyah Peninsula, south of Half
Moon Bay, hosts two major evaporite basins, separated from the bay by the eolian dunes of North
Hill and South Hill. Image recorded on 28 May, 1990. Image width as cropped here is 26 km.

DAMMAM DOME AND RA’S ABU URAYQAT

The bedrock of the Dammam Peninsula are Tertiary formations, which have been gently uplifted by a
subsurface salt dome (Tleel, 1973). The slow uplift of the Dammam Dome (Weijermars, 1999) has
resulted in progressive marine regression and the development of extensive coastal sabkhas, now
partly covered by eolian dunes. The Quaternary deposits, which form the southern tail of the Dammam
Peninsula, had several provenances. The eolian silici-clastics were blown from the north-northwest,
while marine sediments were transported by longshore, southbound currents and cemented by chemical
precipitation and biogenic processes.

Much of the Dammam area, occupied by the Late Tertiary Hadrukh Formation (Figure 1), could be
classified as dikaka. This term is sometimes used for sediments characterized by a dense, network-
like arrangement of fossil roots stuffed with fine sand or coarse gypsum. Dikaka formed from vegetation
growing on the silty floor of a wadi (valley) that retains humidity for some time (Glennie and Evamy,
1968). It covers relatively flat terrains, underlain by poorly-exposed bedrock, generally blanketed by
scattered rocks, patches of eolian sand and some vegetation.

The Half Moon Bay region itself is devoid of any Tertiary outcrops and is dominated by surficial
deposits of silici-clastic eolian sands of the Jafurah Sand Sea (Figures 1 and 2), which shift as dune

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 Weijermars

systems across the coastal sabkha plains, principally

toward the south-southeast under the action of the
dominating Shamal winds (Figure 3). The eolian sand is North
commonly fine- to medium-grained, clean and well-
sorted (mesh is 0.26 to 0.31 and sorting 1.38 to 1.53) (Roger,
1985). Many of the dunes have been excavated for use in Rose Diagram
local construction as aggregate and filler. The silica content of Annual Wind
of the eolian sands ranges between 80% to 90% and the Directions
remainder is calcite. The ferric iron content is less than
0.46% and impurities generally do not exceed 2.6%.

A coastal and marine Quaternary deposit (Qcd), occurs

as narrow low ridges at only a few meters above present
sea-level (Figure 1). These ridges comprise oolitic sands, West East
coquinas with a sandy matrix, calcarenites and beach
rocks. These are interpreted here to mark the high
shoreline at the end of the Flandrian transgression about
4,000 years ago (4 ka). Shells of gastropods, bivalves,
molluscs and barnacles from this Holocene shoreline Annual Average
deposit have been sampled and yielded radiocarbon dates Wind Direction
of 3,700 to 6,000 years BP (McClure and Vita-Finzi, 1982;
Vita-Finzi and McClure, 1991). The beaches and spits
South
which surround Half Moon Bay consist of a mixture of
marine sand, eolian sand and reworked eolian sand, with
minor amounts of coquina, beach rock and muds. The
bay itself is probably floored by similar deposits, but no Figure 3: Annual average wind
core samples are available. The true depth of the Tertiary direction for the Eastern Province
bedrock is unknown, but can be estimated from the (after Fryberger et al., 1983).
surface slope of the nearby Dammam Dome to be no more
than several tens of meters.

EASTERN PROVINCE SABKHAS

The area surrounding Half Moon Bay is underlain by sabkhas, which develop where the regional
water table is close to the ground surface. The surface of the sabkhas is commonly covered by muds
composed of calcite, aragonite, gypsum, anhydrite and halite, mixed with various amounts of
(commonly eolian) quartz sand (Figure 4). Below the sabkha floor may occur alternating layers of
horizontally laminated eolian sand sheets, cross-bedded eolian dune deposits, marine beachrock and
coquina. The sabkhas of the Eastern Province are hostile for construction projects, because of excessive
settlement under normal loading, corrosive ground water and flooding risk (Shehata et al., 1990).

Sabkhas are flat, often water-saturated land surfaces deflated by wind down to the level of the capillary
fringe of the water. These normally occur in hot climates and evaporation of the ground water through
the surface results in the precipitation of evaporite minerals (Kinsman, 1969; Johnson et al., 1978).
Isolated barchanoid dunes migrate over the otherwise flat sabkhas. Simultaneously, deflation occurs
in the sabkha around these dunes down to the level where the sediment grains are held together by
adhesive forces of water in the capillary zone. Fryberger et al. (1983) concluded that all sabkhas in the
Dammam area are underlain by silici-clastics in contrast to the classical carbonate sabkhas of the Abu
Dhabi coast. The quartz sand fraction is commonly much larger than the evaporitic fraction (Roger,
1985). Holm (1960) and Glennie (1970) suggested that even the inland sabkhas in the eastern Province,
are remnants of coastal sabkhas of Pleistocene and Late Pliocene sea-levels.

Two major sabkha ponds occur on the Ra’s Al-Qurayyah Peninsula (Figure 1). Parts of these sabkhas
remain submerged in shallow brine for most of the year. The size of the submerged area fluctuates in
accordance with the seasonal precipitation pattern. Heavy rainfall in December 1992, resulted in a 40

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 Half Moon Bay, Saudi Arabia

Northwest Southeast
Dominant
Dune
Wind Sabkha Well-sorted sand,
Cross-bedded Marine
Sea Level

Accretion

Tertiary Dolomite Slope

Quartz (Clean) Sand
and Mollusks Marine
Muddy (Carbonate)
30 feet Sand, Marine
1 mile

Figure 4: Schematic cross-section of dunes migrating over sabkha plain. The sabkha surface is
commonly covered by silt, mud and evaporite crusts. This section, generalized on the basis of field
observation of the Umm Said Sabkha, Qatar, also applies to the Half Moon Bay area. Dominant
wind direction is southbound (modified after Shinn, 1973).

centimeters (cm) rise in the water-level, which flooded most of the sabkha. The water receded to its
previous level by April 1993 (Al-Guwaizani, 1994). The southernmost of the two ponds is stripped of
its surface salt along its western margin (Figure 5a). The salt concentration of the brines is enriched by
evaporation and the building of small dams. The precipitation of salts from evaporating brines like
sea-water occurs in the order of reciprocal solubility: calcium carbonate, gypsum, halite (see references
in Weijermars, 1991). In the area of salt mining, the brine concentrations are kept such that sodium
chloride is the principal evaporite deposit. Gypsum precipitates when the brine concentration is three
to four times denser than that of standard sea-water. Halite is the principal salt precipitating when the
brine concentration is ten times or more than that of standard sea-water.

Along the southeastern margin of the Ra’s Al-Qurayyah Sabkha, a coarse crystalline mush
predominantly composed of gypsum and more than one meter thick, is the principal deposit. The
gypsum forms 30% to 100% of the deposit and occurs together with halite and carbonates (calcite,
dolomite and aragonite) mixed with minor amounts of both marine and eolian quartz sand. Anhydrite
(CaSO4) is also found and forms when the gypsum (CaSO4H2O) dehydrates at temperatures above 45°
to 60° centigrade. Polygonal patterns of cracks are present after the seasonal recession of the flood-
water (Figure 5b). The fresh-water gastropod Melanoides tuberculata is widespread on these sabkha
plains. This is a very adaptable form and may also be found in brackish and hyper-saline waters at
present.

Figure 5a: Salt mounds harvested at the southern Ra’s Al-Qurayyah Sabkha. Figure 5b: Numerous
shells of fresh-water snails, possibly flushed-in by the Al-Hasa River, covering the mud-floored
sabkha (aragonite, quartz, gypsum), directly west of Ra’s Al-Qurayyah Peninsula.

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 Weijermars

STRUCTURE OF JAFURAH BARCHAN DUNES

Some extraordinary clear internal stratification patterns were observed inside modern Jafurah dunes
when deflated after exceptionally heavy rainfalls in April 1995. Annual rainfall of 202.95 millimeters
(mm) was measured in Abqaiq (located 40 kilometers (km) west of the dune studied) for the whole of
1995, which was the largest recorded since the start of meteorological measurements in 1939. On
4 April, 1995, an entire barchan (located at coordinates 25° 54’ 43”N and 49° 53’ 97”E) was found
completely soaked and saturated by rain-water following heavy rainfall overnight (Figure 6a). Sand
grains were held together by the intergranular capillary water. A strong Shamal wind had deflated all
of the disorderly, surficial, dry sand which normally covers the dune crest and thereby obscures any
internal stratification (compare Figures 6b and 6c). However, the deflation surface revealed a well-
structured pattern of internal cross-stratification in a tilted transversal section (Figures 7a and 7b).
The observed cross-stratification includes truncated sets similar to those seen in ancient eolian deposits.

Figure 6a: Barchan in Jafurah Sand Sea at coordinates 25° 54’ 43” N and 49° 53’ 97”E. Figure 6b: Dry,
loose sand normally obscures internal stratification from view. Figure 6c: Water-saturated and
deflated dune crest reveals internal stratification, here showing slip-face conformable sand sheets
(crest) and back-slip layers (left).

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 Half Moon Bay, Saudi Arabia

Figure 7a: Oblique

view of internal cross-
stratification in rear
body of water-saturated
Jafurah barchan.

Figure 7b: Nearly orthogonal

view of cross-stratification
illustrating true angular
relationships in transversal
section of rear body in Jafurah
barchan. For explanatory
model see Figure 8.

Although the barchan migration mechanism is well-studied (Ahlbrandt and Fryberger, 1981), the
present observations allow the proposition of a simple model of barchan anatomy development (Figures
8a to 8c). Barchan dunes are crescent-shaped in plan view and each has two horns facing down-wind
(Figure 8a). Eolian sand is continually sliding down the slip-face at the down-wind or lee-side of the
dune, after cascading over the dune crest. Sand grains reach the crest by saltation and rolling and tend
to become airborne in the relatively high wind speed at the crest of the dune. However, the
aerodynamics of barchans is such that low-speed air currents at the lee-side of the barchans cause
airborne particles to fall onto the slip-face. Consequently, sand continually shifts from the wind-ward
slope to the lee-ward slope to be temporarily buried in new slip-faces until re-emerging at the wind-
ward slope for further surface transport. Theoretically, there should be a vertical plane bisecting barchan
dunes into two similar, symmetrical halves (Figure 8a). However, many barchans show internal
stratification more complex than that of Figure 8a. Figures 8b and 8c attempt to visualize the way in
which cross-stratification may develop inside migrating barchans by sideways shift during migration
down-wind. The cross-stratification observed in the transversal sections, through the rear end of the
barchans in Figures 7a and 7b, can be explained by the simple model of Figures 8b and 8c.

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 Weijermars

a
Cross- Horns
Stratification

n
ctio
l Se Transversal Section Horn
ina
t ud
n gi Slip Face
Lo

Transversal Section Rear Body

Wind Rear Body

Previous position
of Barchan Body Stratification Position 2

Stratification Position 1
Wind Present position of Barchan Body
Side shift due to wind changes

Complex cross-bedding in
Transversal Section due to
Wind frequent side-shifts of barchan body

Figure 8: Hypothetical model to explain complex cross-stratification patterns in transversal sections

of barchan dunes. Figure 8a: Oblique bird’s eye view of barchan showing longitudinal and
transversal sections of internal (cross-) stratification. Figure 8b: Temporal change in dominant
wind direction shifts barchan sideways and forward, and migrates internal cross-stratification in
transversal sections as shown. Figure 8c: Complex transversal cross-stratification patterns may
arise from minor but repeated shifts in dominant wind direction.

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 Half Moon Bay, Saudi Arabia

RA’S AL-QURAYYAH PENINSULA AND QUATERNARY

SEA-LEVEL CHANGES

The Ra’s Al-Qurayyah Peninsula is dominated by two low hills, North Hill and South Hill (Figures 1
and 2). Both are principally made up of sands, emplaced as eolian dunes, which must have migrated
southward to their present position over the floor of what is now Half Moon Bay. The floor of Half
Moon Bay itself is here interpreted to have been a supratidal sabkha for some 50,000 years, until about
6,000 years BP, when it was flooded (see below). Directly north of the North Hill, a north-northwest-
striking landspit extends into Half Moon Bay (Figures 1 and 9a). This prominent barrier is made up of
quartz sand and covered by beach rock (Figure 9b). Three kilometers southwest of the North Hill, a
shallow topographic ridge composed of Holocene marine sands and coquina beds, occurs to form an
ancient coastal barrier extending to the south-southeast as far as the Ra’s Al-Qurayyah desalination
plant. This Holocene beach deposit (approximately 4,000 years BP) is now exposed (Figure 9c), probably
due to eustatic regression around the entire Arabian Gulf possibly accompanied by minor uplift of the
Ra’s Al-Qurayyah Peninsula.

Figure 9a: Landspit of recent marine deposits projecting north from North Hill, visible in the
background. Figure 9b: Beach rock composed of quartz sand cemented by calcite from capillary
hyper-saline sea-water percolating between grains by the evaporative heat pump process. Dark
appearance of the rock is due to encrusting mussels and algal growth. Figure 9c: Cross-bedded
4,000 years coquina of Ra’s Al-Qurayyah Peninsula.

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 Weijermars

48° 50° 52° 54°

30° 30° HALF BAHRAIN
MOON
BAY

Mesopotamian IRAN
Shallow Shelf

Al
-H
QATAR

as
a
-40
Western

-40

Co
-2
0 Basin

as
28° Za 28°

t
gr SAUDI
os ARABIA
Mo
un
tai

-6
ns

0
CeSw
56° 58°
A

nt ell
ra

ra
Central

l
bi Basin Hormuz
an Strait
-8
S 0
ha
26° SAUDI ARABIA llo 26°
BAHRAIN w -60 East Swell Biaban
Sh Shelf
-
e l 40
f

14 100
-20

0
Figure 10: -20 Gulf
Principal N QATAR of
Oman
0 250
bathymetry of

-20
Km
the Arabian Gulf 24° 24°
Depth in Meters
(according to
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Kassler, 1973). 48° 50° 52° 54° 58°

The Arabian Gulf is a marginal sea of the

LOGARITHMIC
TIME SCALE

SEA-LEVEL
Indian Ocean with a maximum depth of 120 (Fairbridge, 1961) HALF MOON ROCK
to 130 meters (m) near the Strait of Hormuz, BAY REGION DESCRIPTION
Low-Stands High-Stands
and has an average depth of only 35 m
(Figure 10). Its shallow depth has made it 100 50 0 50 100 m
1,000
extremely susceptible to the effect of sea- Years
Before
HOLOCENE

level changes. Figure 11 summarizes the Present

Aragonitic skeletal
reconstruction of Holocene and Pleistocene and oolitic sand,
loose with some
eustatic sea-level changes. Before the onset cemented bands
5,000
of a major regression about 110,000 years BP,
the Early Pleistocene was marked by a high
10,000
sea-level of +120 to +150 m (Figure 11), which
Present
covered much of the Eastern Province and Sea-Level Quartz sand,
poorly-sorted,
inundated large parts of the Rub’ Al-Khali sub-rounded grains
(Figure 12). During the Late Pleistocene
regression about 105,000 years BP, sea-level 50,000
dropped 70 m below the present level Calcitic skeletal
PLEISTOCENE

(Kassler, 1973), and exposed large areas of 100,000

grainstone
Quartz sandstone
the Arabian Gulf floor (Figure 13a). A brief
Dolomitic
transgression occurred between 105,000 and lithofacies
80,000 years BP (Figure 13b), followed by the
major Late Pleistocene regression with sea-
level again steadily dropping toward a 500,000

Pleistocene record low-stand of 120 m

Dolomitic lithofacies
below the present level at 17,000 years BP Early suggest a lower sea-level
(Figure 13c). Pleistocene stand than represented here
High Stands

For several millennia, the Gulf was a vast Figure 11: Eustatic sea-level changes for the
alluvial plain (Seibold et al., 1973), through Pleistocene and Holocene, together with
which the Tigris and Euphrate Rivers flowed sedimentary facies from drill cores below the
southeastward to a coastline in the Gulf of Bahrain Causeway (according to Darwish and
Oman (Sarnthein, 1972). Much of the Gulf Conley, 1990; Fairbridge, 1961).

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 Half Moon Bay, Saudi Arabia

50° 54° 58°

Early Pleistocene Shoreline

(upto 1 million years BP)
EARLY PLEISTOCENE LANDMASSES
30° ARABIAN GULF REGION 30°
Present
Shoreline
100
200
300

-40
IRAN
Za
gr Early Pleistocene Sea
-40
-2
0 os
Mo
un
-6

tai
0

ns

Hormuz
-80 Strait Biaban
Shelf
26° -60
26°
-40

14 100
40

-20

0
0
50

-20
60

0
0

Gulf of Oman
80

-20
0

400
80
0
1,00
0

100 200

22° Semail Island 22°

10 Ru
0 b’
Al-
Kh
ali
St
100

rai
200

t
30
0
40

ARABIAN
0

PENINSULA
50
0

18°
60

18°
0
800

1,00
0 N
800
0 250
1,0

1,400 Km
1,400
00

14° Elevation and Depth in Meters 14°

0
1,00 800
200
50° 54° 58°

Figure 12: Early Pleistocene transgression shows a much-extended Gulf with sea-level at 120 to 150 m
above present, between 2 to 1 Ma. Reconstructed here using sea-level data of Figure 11, Gulf
bathymetry of Figure 10, and United States Geological Survey land topography.

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50° 52° 54° 50° 52° 54°
Weijermars

30° HALF 30° HALF

MOON MOON
105,000 before present BAY 80,000 before present BAY
BAHRAIN BAHRAIN
Mesopotamian (Gulf shore at -60 meters) Mesopotamian (Gulf shore at 0 meters)
Shallow Shelf Shallow Shelf

A
Al
QATAR QATAR

l-H
-H

as
as

a
a

-4
-4

-4
-4
Western Western

0
0

0
0
IRAN IRAN

Co
Co

a
a
-20 Basin Za -20 Basin Za
28° g 28° 28° 28°

st
ros gro
sM st
Mo ou
un nta
tai DRY PHASE WET PHASE
n

-6
-6
s ins

0
0
56° 58° 56° 58°

C Sw
C Sw

l
l

en el
en el

tra l
tra l
Central Hormuz Central
SAUDI ARABIA Ar
ab SAUDI ARABIA Ar
ab Basin Hormuz
Basin -
80 Strait -8 Strait
ian ian 0
Sh 26° Sh 26°
26° all Biaban 26° all Biaban
BAHRAIN ow -60 East Swell BAHRAIN ow -60 East Swell
Study Area Sh -40
Shelf Study Area Sh -40
Shelf
elf elf

-2
-2

0
0

1
1

0
0

14 00
14 00

-20 Gulf -20 Gulf

QATAR of QATAR of
Oman Oman
0 Depth in Meters 250 0 Depth in Meters 250

-2
-2

0
0
24°
N 24° 24°
N 24°
Km Km

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48° 50° 52° 54° UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 58° 48° 50° 52° 54° UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 58°

50° 52° 54° 50° 52° 54°

82
30° HALF 30° HALF
MOON MOON
17,000 before present BAY 10,000 before present BAY
BAHRAIN BAHRAIN
Mesopotamian (Gulf shore at 140 meters) Mesopotamian (Gulf shore at -20 meters)
Shallow Shelf Shallow Shelf

Al
Al

QATAR QATAR

-H
-H

as
as

a
a

-4
-4

-4
-4

Western Western

0
0

0
0

IRAN IRAN

Co
Co

a
a

-20 Basin Za -20 Basin Za

28° g 28° 28° 28°

st
st

ros gro
Mo sM
un ou
tai nta
DRY PHASE DRY PHASE
-6

-6
ns ins
0

0
56° 58° 56° 58°

C Sw
C Sw

l
l

en el
en el

tra l
tra l

Central Central
SAUDI ARABIA Ar Basin Hormuz SAUDI ARABIA Ar
ab Basin Hormuz
ab -8 Strait -8 Strait
ian 0 ian 0
Sh Sh
26° 26° 26° all 26°
BAHRAIN
all
ow -60 East Swell Biaban BAHRAIN ow -60 East Swell Biaban
Study Area Sh Shelf Study Area
Sh Shelf
e l f -40 e l f -40

-2
-2

0
0

1
1

0
0

14 00
14 00

-20 Gulf -20 Gulf

QATAR of QATAR of
Oman Oman
0 Depth in Meters 250 0 Depth in Meters 250

-2
-2

0
0

24°
N 24° 24°
N 24°
Km Km
48° 50° 52° 54° UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 58° 48° 50° 52° 54° UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 58°

Figures 13a to 13d: Reconstruction of the extent of the Arabian Gulf for four stages in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. Based on sea-level
data of Figure 11 and using Gulf bathymetry of Kassler (1973).
 Half Moon Bay, Saudi Arabia

remained essentially dry between 17,000 and 14,000 years BP, and was subjected to subaerial erosional
conditions (Lambeck, 1996). Fresh, pluvial water dissolved aragonitic shells in skeletal grainstone
and provided cement to underlying quartz sands (Darwish and Conley, 1990). Eolian dunes migrated
southward over the Gulf floor, mostly under arid conditions (Sarnthein, 1972; Al-Hinai et al., 1987).
During the tens of thousands of years it took the Arabian Gulf to attain its former and regain its
present level, large areas of the now submerged Gulf plains have supplied reworked sandy alluvial
sediments to Qatar and the Rub’ Al-Khali by means of northwesterly Shamal winds (Shinn, 1973).
Wind even may have carried airborne foraminiferids from the Gulf’s floor to the central Rub’ Al-Khali
when the Gulf was dry (McClure, 1984).

The Late Pleistocene regression was followed by the Holocene or Flandrian transgression when the
sea slowly rose to its present level. By about 12,500 years BP, the marine incursion was well underway
(Lambeck, 1996). The sea-level rose to -20 m at about 10,000 years BP (Figure 13d). Further transgression
led to marine water entering the Gulf of Salwah to pass the -7.2 m level around 6,000 years BP, isolating
Bahrain as an island for the first time in almost 70,000 years (Doornkamp et al., 1980). The Flandrian
transgression attained its highest point about 4,000 years ago, when it reached 2 m above the present
level, before falling to the present-day level (Felber et al., 1978). This latest regression is unlikely to
reflect a purely local tectonic uplift rather than eustatic sea-level changes (Vita-Finzi and McClure,
1991). Raised beach deposits of the Middle Holocene reaching upto approximately 2 m above present
sea-level also occur on the coast of the United Arab Emirates (Evans et al., 1969; Kapel, 1967; Kirkham,
1997). About 3,750 years BP the sea-level first fell rapidly by one meter and then more gradually
regressed to the present level about 1,000 years BP. In contrast, the Iranian shore, subjected to the
Zagros folding of the Fars Platform, has locally undergone as much as 25 m tectonic uplift during the
last 6,000 years (Vita-Finzi, 1980).

AL-HASA PERENNIAL RIVER

Another, surprising factor in the development of Half Moon Bay is the episodic appearance of a
perennial river originating from the Al-Hasa Oasis, about 80 km to the southwest. The oasis drains
large amounts of fresh-water from subsurface aquifers in the Umm Er Radhuma and Wasia formations.
A major portion of this water is used for irrigation. Occasionally, torrential rains during December to
March (Figure 14) inundate the drainage and irrigation networks of Al-Hasa. The excess water is
discharged into two large artificial lakes or evaporation ponds. One such lake is located northeast of

20 ABQAIQ MONTHLY
RAINFALL
27 Year Average

15
RAINFALL (millimeters)

10

0
NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY
Figure 14: Histogram of monthly rainfall (mm) measured in Abqaiq averaged over 27-year period.
(Data from Arabian Sun News Bulletin, 13 March, 1996).

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 Weijermars

49°50' 50°00' 50°10'

HALF
MOON
BAY 26°00'
26°10' Figure 2

Abqaiq

Course of 25°50'
26°00' Al-Hasa River

North Lake 25°40'

25°50'
N
0 10

Km

49°40' 49°50' 50°00'

Figure 15: False color, enhanced Landsat Thematic Mapper image of the desert region between Al-
Hasa Oasis and Half Moon Bay. The lake visible in the southwest corner of the image is fed by
excess water discharged from the Al-Hasa irrigation network. The lake in turn feeds a perennial
river which meanders its way through the desert toward Half Moon Bay. Image was taken 28 May,
1990, when water supply was minimal. The delta region of Al-Hasa River is magnified in Figure 2.

the oasis, another occurs at the southeast margin. The northern lake appears with dark albedo in the
southwest corner of the satellite image of Figure 15.

The water volume of the northern lake may increase considerably during the “rainy season” and
sometimes feeds the perennial river flowing towards Half Moon Bay. The general flow path is visible
on satellite images, and appears most clearly in false-color satellite images recorded during February
and March (not shown here). This river is here referred to as the Al-Hasa River. When the Al-Hasa
water first leaves the northern lake for Half Moon Bay it takes one to two weeks to re-establish its
actual flow-path. Migrating transverse and barchan dunes locally block the drainage course of previous
years, but as water accumulates behind the sand obstructions, overflow is followed by breaching.
Subsequently, a narrow drainage channel is eroded into the sand bed and water continues to seek its
way through the desert in this fashion with many sandwalls temporarily delaying its advance (Figures
16a to 16d).

Between March and April, 1995, the Al-Hasa River meandered through the desert sands for about 80
km. Water flowed continuously for over one month, bringing with it fresh-water fish, upto 30 cm
long, from the Al-Hasa irrigation ponds (Figure 17a). The regional gradient between Al-Hasa and
Half Moon Bay is about 2.5 m per km. In places, the water course is only several meters wide and up
to one meter deep. In spring 1995, flow rates of about 1 km per hour were observed in such narrow
conduits. In other locations, the water course widens and extends onto wide sabkha plains. Sabkha

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 Half Moon Bay, Saudi Arabia

Bridge of service road

Bridge of service road

Before dune breaching

After dune breaching

Figures 16a to 16d : Views of Al-Hasa River breaching across expanse of sand dunes on its course
toward Half Moon Bay. Photographs were taken near geographical location 25° 54’ 43”N and
49° 53’ 97”E, on 23 March and 19 April, 1995. Location is marked on map of Figure 2.

Hammam, south of Abqaiq, is one of several areas where the river locally disappears into a lake of
several square kilometers, which in turn feeds a continuation of the river which leaves the lake and
heads to the northeast. With the cessation of rains, the Al-Hasa River slowly retreats and dries up,
leaving thousands of fish to die in numerous evaporation ponds along the river bed (Figure 17b). The
annual rainfall of 202.95 mm measured in Abqaiq for 1995 was the largest recorded since the onset of
measurements in 1939 (The Arabian Sun, 1996). Abqaiq’s previous record stood at 194.31 mm for
1982. Abqaiq’s 24-hour record stands at 79.5 mm for 12 December, 1955. For comparison, the annual
rainfall averaged over a 27-year period is only 84 mm, according to the monthly distribution
summarized in Figure 14.

Figure 17a: Fresh-water fish specimen (Balti or Apharias dispar) caught from Al-Hasa River.
Figure 17b: Retreating Al-Hasa River leaves behind scores of fish dying in a struggle for water
and oxygen, 19 April, 1995.

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 Weijermars

QUATERNARY CLIMATIC CONDITIONS

The Al-Hasa River reached a few kilometers short of Half Moon Bay during the 1995 flow, to dissipate
in the sabkha area at its southwest margin. However, it seems certain that occasionally, perhaps only
once per century, the river reaches Half Moon Bay to discharge continental detritus into the marine
(oolite) environment. The Al-Hasa River may have been much more prominent in the geologic past,
particularly during the Quaternary pluvial episodes. Four such pluvials have been recognized, i.e.,
from 1.6 to 0.7 Ma; 560,000 to 325,000 years BP; 36,000 to 17,000 years BP; and 9,000 to 6,000 years BP
(Table 1). A chronology of Quaternary climatic conditions and some associated geological observations
are summarized in Table 1.

Table 1
Provisional Chronology of Quaternary Climatic Events for Saudi Arabia
(after Edgell, 1990b; Fairbridge, 1961). The four pluvial episodes
of the Quaternary are highlighted (blue).

GEOLOGICAL CHRONOLOGY CLIMATIC

EPOCH (Years Before Present) PHASE DEVELOPMENTS

0 - 700 Hyperarid Continued movement of high crested

dunes.

700 - 1,300 Hofuf River noted by Yaqut and other

Slightly Moist
geographers.

1,300 - 1,400 Arid Dune movement.

Sabean Kingdom flourished and also
1,400 - 2,100 Slightly Moist Kingdom of Kinda at Qaryat Al Fau
(Al-Ansari, 1982).
HOLOCENE
2,100 - 5,000 Hyperarid Dune movement.
Neolithic camp site in southwest Rub’
5,000 - 5,500 Slightly Moist Al-Khali 5,120 years before present
(Field, 1956).

5,500 - 6,000 Hyperarid High crested dunes and interdune

corridors.
“Neolithic wet phase” lakes in
6,000 - 10,000 Wet (Pluvial) southwest Rub’ Al-Khali (C14 dating of
organic remains and sinter).

10,000 - 17,000 Hyperarid Dune topography and longitudinal

dunes extended.

Lakes in the southwest Rub’ Al-Khali;

17,000 - 36,000 Wet (Pluvial) Arabian Gulf dry, due to lowered sea
level of the last great ice age (C14
dating of organic remains and sinter).
LATE
PLEISTOCENE Main movement of sand from old
36,000 - 70,000 Arid Wadis in the reduced Arabian Gulf.

Early phase of Wurm glacial and Riss-

70,000 - 270,000 Moist Wurm interglacial (U/Th Isotope
dating).

270,000 - 325,000 Arid Summan Plateau caves dry.

Active karstification and cave formation
325,000 - 560,000 Wet in Summan Plateau (U/Th Isotope
MIDDLE dating).
PLEISTOCENE
560,000 - 700,000 Arid Beginning of low dunes (O2 Isotope
evidence of warmer climate).
Early Quaternary drainage systems in
EARLY 700,000 - 1,610,000+ Wet Humid the Rub’ Al-Khali. Large alluvial fans
PLEISTOCENE (possibly to 2,500,000) (Pluvial) formed (O2 Isotope evidence of cooler
climate).

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 Half Moon Bay, Saudi Arabia

In Saudi Arabia, the cold intervals of the Quaternary coincided with pluvial phases, and warm
intervals corresponded to arid conditions, as at present (Chapman, 1971). Oxygen isotope ratios
indicate warm pluvial episodes existed in the Gulf region during the Early Pleistocene (1.6 to 0.7
Ma) and Middle Pleistocene (560,000 to 325,000 years BP) (Whybrow and McClure, 1981; Whybrow
et al., 1987). Lakes were formed in interdune depressions of the Rub’ Al-Khali during the Mid-
Pleistocene pluvial. Stalactites and sinter drapers of karst caves in the Umm Er Radhuma Formation
of the Summan Plateau of northeastern Saudi Arabia have been radiometrically dated and show a
range of ages (see references in Edgell, 1990a) coinciding with the Early Pleistocene and Middle
Pleistocene, and the later “Wurm” and “Neolithic” Pluvials. The Empty Quarter or Rub’ Al-Khali
has been occupied by sand sheets for at least the last 700,000 years, but was covered by lakes and
grassy vegetation during the pluvial episodes (see references in Edgell, 1990a, b).

Although the current arid conditions began to prevail in Saudi Arabia near the end of the Middle
Pleistocene, two important minor pluvial episodes can be distinguished: (1) between 36,000 and 17,000
years BP (Wurm Glacial); and (2) during the “Neolithic wet phase” from 9,000 to 6,000 years BP
(McClure, 1974, 1976 and 1984). Lakes in the Rub’ Al-Khali also show high levels for at least two
different episodes: from 36,000 to 17,000 years BP and from 9,000 to 6,000 years BP (McClure, 1978).
These correspond to lacustrine highs reported from other Afro-Arabian areas. The prehistoric Mudafan
Lake, some 300 km east of Abha, is now dry and obscured by dunes, but contains lacustrine deposits
24 m thick which accumulated between 30,000 and 21,000 years BP (McClure, 1976). Also, worthy of
note is that most of the karstification of the Arabian limestone formations has taken place during the
various pluvial episodes of the Quaternary. Any new cave systems are unlikely to have formed since
the last “Neolithic” pluvial (Edgell, 1990a).

Another perennial river seems to occasionally find its way to the coastal village of Al-Uqayr
(approximately 20 km south of Ra’s Al-Qurayyah), originating from the southern evaporation pond of
Al-Hasa. This river course, mapped as Darb Al-Uqayr by Steineke et al. (1958), is earlier referred to as
the Al-Asfar River (yellow river), or Al-Aftan River, and was first mentioned in writings by Greek
historical travelers (Golding, 1984). It may well be that both the Al-Hasa and Al-Aftan Rivers were
much more prominent and permanent during the pluvial episodes mentioned above.

CONCLUSIONS

Half Moon Bay was dry for at least 50,000 years in the Late Pleistocene, until the Flandrian transgression
inundated the bay, starting about 12,500 years BP and culminating 4,000 years BP. The high shoreline
at the end of the Flandrian transgression, 4,000 years BP, is thought to be represented by coastal deposits,
including coquinoid silici-clastics (Figures 1 and 9c). The modern shore region of the bay is surrounded
by sabkha plains and low sand dunes. The North and South Hills at Ra’s Al-Qurayyah Peninsula are
remnants of eolian sand dunes, which migrated southward over the dry floor of the bay before its
inundation by the Flandrian transgression. The bay is episodically fed with fresh-water when the
perennial Al-Hasa River crosses the Jafurah Sand Sea. The interleaving and mixing of marine and
continental clastics within the sabkha environment of the Half Moon Bay shores provides a template
for understanding similar deposits elsewhere.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Dr. Moujahed Al-Husseini provided valuable advise and encouragement to go ahead with this work
inspite of my withdrawal from the Gulf region. The author acknowledges the Research Institute of
King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, for use of the Remote Sensing Laboratory. This
paper further benefited significantly from comments and suggestions by three anonymous expert
reviewers of GeoArabia. All graphics were professionally prepared by GeoArabia’s technical staff.

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 Weijermars

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ruud Weijermars is currently working as a consultant and Board Member

at the Alboran Media Group in Amsterdam. He served as an Associate
Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences, King Fahd University of
Petroleum and Minerals in Dhahran from 1992 until mid-1998. The geology
of Half Moon Bay attracted his attention not only on land, but also during
frequent sailing trips at the bay. Ruud previously worked as a visiting
research scientist at the University of Uppsala (Sweden), University of Texas
at Austin (USA), and the Technical High School of Zurich (Switzerland).
He holds a PhD in Geodynamics from the University of Uppsala, and BS
and MS degrees in Geology and Structural Geology from the University of
Amsterdam. Ruud has studied the basement and cover rocks of Saudi Arabia in numerous field
localities. He has authored over sixty research articles and published two textbooks: “Structural
Geology and Map Interpretation” and “Principles of Rock Mechanics,” which have been reviewed
in GeoArabia (1997, vol. 2, no. 3, p. 340). Ruud is a member of the Editorial Board of GeoArabia.

Manuscript Received 26 July, 1998

Revised 1 October, 1998

Accepted 8 January, 1999

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