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Sabkha

Chapter · January 2016

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-12127-7_248-1

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Matthew Mcmackin William Godwin

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S
Sabkha
Matthew McMackin1 and William H. Godwin2
1
Gardnerville, NV, USA
2
Carmel, CA, USA
Synonyms
Salina; Salt flat; Salt pan
Definition
This is an Arabic term for salt flats found in the deserts and
coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa. The
type locality is the Sabkha Matti, at the boundary of the
United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Similar environmen-
tal conditions are recognized in other arid regions where
evaporite minerals are deposited.
Characteristics
The sabkha landscape includes salt flats, salty soils (halosols),
scoured sand plains, and sand dunes. Wind erosion commonly
forms a sabkha plain, known as a Stokes surface (Fryberger
et al. 2006), where the strength of cohesion from water or
crystalline salt is sufficient to bind sand grains in place.
Windblown sand deposits may contain significant portions
of salt-cemented silt-sand pellets and crystalline salt. Lag
# Springer International Publishing AG 2017
P.T. Bobrowsky, B. Marker (eds.), Encyclopedia of Engineering Geology,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-12127-7_248-2
deposits of deflated soil may contain larger salt crystals,
including clustered gypsum crystals known as desert roses.
Below stable sabkha surfaces, salts may accumulate within
the upper 0.5 m layer to form a salt-cemented soil, such as
gypcrete, that can provide limited strength to sabkha soils.
Aragonite, gypsum, and halite are common in coastal
sabkhas of the Red Sea (Banat et al. 2005), typical of
seawater-fed sabkhas. Coastal sabkhas in the Arabian Gulf
are associated with dolomitization of aragonite and the depo-
sition of gypsum in shallow sediments (Patterson and Kins-
man 1982).
Coastal sabkhas form in the supratidal zone where inter-
mittent flooding by seawater saturates soils and deposits
evaporate salts (Glennie 1998). Seasonal tides can alter the
water table and cause local flooding of back beach areas.
Soluble salts that add strength to sabkha soils may dissolve,
changing soil properties abruptly. Weak, saturated soils can
extend several meters below the surface.
Sabkha soils can be difficult to manage for engineering
purposes. Seasonal saturation can make soils susceptible to
liquefaction or rapid loss of bearing capacity, as shown on
Fig. 1. Reduced durability of concrete from attack by salt is
common in the Arabian Peninsula, with chloride being more
problematic in hot-humid coastal environments (Haque
et al. 2006). The deposition or dissolution salts in the soil
can cause heaving or subsidence. Phase changes between
gypsum and anhydrite in sabkha soils can cause volumetric
change of as much 40 % resulting in heaving or subsidence
(Azam 2007).
2 Sabkha

Sabkha, Fig. 1 Front end loader

stuck while attempting to recover
a truck and trailer mired on an
unimproved road in sabkha terrain
in the UAE. The road had been
passable for the previous 3 months
(Photograph, M. McMackin 2010)

References Glennie K (1998) The desert of southeast Arabia: a product of quaternary

Azam S (2007) Study on the geological and engineering aspects of
anhydrite/gypsum transition in Arabian Gulf coastal deposits. Bull
Eng Geol Environ 66:177–185
Banat KM, Howari FM, Kadi KA (2005) Water chemical characteristics
of the Red Sea coastal Sabkhas and associate evaporite and carbonate
minerals. J Coast Res 21(5):1068–1081
Fryberger SG, Schenk CJ, Krystinik LF (2006) Stokes surfaces and the
effects of near-surface groundwater-table on Aeolian deposition.
Sedimentology 35(1):21–41
climate change. In: Alsharhan AS, Glennie KW, Whittle GL, Kendall
GGSC (eds) Quaternary climate change. Balkema, Rotterdam
Haque MN, Al-Khaiat H, John B (2006) Proposals for a draft code for
designing durable concrete structures in the Arabian Gulf. Arab J Sci
Eng 31(1C):205
Patterson RJ, Kinsman DJJ (1982) Formation of diagenetic dolomite in
Coastal Sabkha along Arabian (Persian) Gulf. AAPG Bull 66(1):28

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