Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T13:07:58.310Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

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).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

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 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Agard, P., Omrani, J., Jolivet, L., Mouthereau, F., 2005. Convergence history across Zagros (Iran): constraints from collisional and earlier deformations. International Journal of Earth Sciences 94, 401–419.Google Scholar
Al Hatrushi, M.S., 2017. Morphology of the raised shore platforms along the coastline between Daghmar and Dhabab, Sultanate of Oman. Journal of Arts and Social Sciences 8, 13–24.Google Scholar
Al-Lazki, I.A., Seber, D., Sandvol, E., 2002. A crustal transect across the Oman Mountains on the eastern margin of Arabia. GeoArabia 7, 47–77.Google Scholar
Ali, M., Al Bahri, Q.A., Al Harthy, A., 2016. Gravity Experiment in Oman for Exposing a Basin. Bahria University Research Journal of Earth Sciences 1, 24–27.Google Scholar
Baarli, B.G., 1990. Peripheral bulge of a foreland basin in the Oslo region during the Early Silurian. Paleogeography, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology 78, 149–161.Google Scholar
Berger, J.F., Charpentier, V., Crassard, R., Martin, C., Davtian, G., Lopez-Saez, J.A., 2013. The dynamics of mangrove ecosystem, changes in sea level and the strategies of Neolithic settlements along the coast of Oman (6000–3000 cal. BC). Journal of Archaeological Science 40, 3087–3104.Google Scholar
Biagi, P., 1994. A radiocarbon chronology for the aceramic shell-middens of coastal Oman. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 5, 17–31.Google Scholar
Bird, M.I., Austin, W.E.N., Wurster, C.M., Fifeld, L.K., Mojtahid, M., Sargeant, C., 2010. Punctuated eustatic sea-level rise in the early mid-Holocene. Geology 38, 803–806.Google Scholar
Blechschmidt, I., Matter, A., Preusser, F., Rieke-Zapp, D., 2009. Monsoon triggered formation of Quaternary alluvial megafans in the interior of Oman. Geomorphology 110, 128–139.Google Scholar
Bradley, D.C., Kidd, W.S.F., 1991. Flexural extension of the upper continental crust in collisional foredeeps. Geological Society of America Bulletin 103, 1416–1438.Google Scholar
Bradley, D.C., Kusky, T.M., 1986. Geologic methods of estimating convergence rates during arc-continent collision. Journal of Geology 94, 667–681.Google Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C., 2009. Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates. Radiocarbon 51, 337–360.Google Scholar
Burke, K., Kidd, S.F.W., Kusky, M.T., 1986. Archean foreland basin tectonics in the Witwatersrand, South Africa. Tectonics 5, 439–456.Google Scholar
Burns, S.J., Fleitmann, D., Matter, A., Neff, U., Mangini, A., 2001. Speleothem evidence from Oman for continental pluvial events during interglacial periods. Geology 29, 623–626.Google Scholar
Dickson, A.P., 1986. Preliminary Assessment of the Earthquake Hazard in the Sultanate of Oman. Consultancy Mission Report Prepared for the Sultanate of Oman and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Ministry of Communication Sultanate of Oman, Muscat.Google Scholar
Evans, G., Schmidt, V., Bush, P., Nelson, H., 1969. Stratigraphy and geologic history of the sabkha, Abu Dhabi, Persian Gulf. Sedimentology 12, 145–159.Google Scholar
Fielding, L., Ozdogan, M., Al-Malki, A., El-Baz, F., Kusky, T., 2001. Remote sensing of groundwater upwellings off the northeastern coast of Oman by Landsat thermal data. Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs 33, A346.Google Scholar
Filbrandt, J.B., Nolan, S.C., Ries, A.C., 1990. Late Cretaceous and early Tertiary evolution of Jebel Ja´alan and adjacent areas, NE Oman. In: Robertson A.H.F., Searle, M.P., Ries, A.C. (Eds.), The Geology and Tectonics of the Oman Region, Geological Society, London, Special Publications 49, 697–714.Google Scholar
Fleitmann, D., Burns, S.J., Mangini, A., Mudelsee, M., Kramers, J., Villa, I., Neff, U., et al., 2007. Holocene ITCZ and Indian monsoon dynamics recorded in stalagmites from Oman and Yemen (Socotra). Quaternary Science Reviews 26, 170–188.Google Scholar
Fournier, M., Lepvrier, C., Razin, P., Jolivet, L., 2006. Late Cretaceous to Paleogene Post-obduction extension and subsequent Neogene compression in the Oman Mountains. GeoArabia 4, 17–40.Google Scholar
Fuchs, M., Buerkert, A., 2008. A 20 ka sediment record from the Hajar Mountain range in N-Oman, and its implication for detecting arid–humid periods on the southeastern Arabian Peninsula. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 265, 546–558.Google Scholar
Gardner, R.A.M., 1988. Aeolianites and marine deposits of the Wahiba sands. Character and Paleoenvironments. Journal of Oman Studies, Special Report 3, 75–94.Google Scholar
Gavillot, Y., Axen, G.J., Stockli, D.F., Horton, B.K., Fakhari, D., 2010. Timing of thrust activity in the High Zagros fold-thrust belt, Iran, from (U-Th)/He thermochronology. Tectonics 29, T4025. http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2009TC002484.Google Scholar
Gharibreza, M., 2016. Evolutionary trend of paleoshorelines in the Coastal Makran zone (Southeast Iran) since the mid-Holocene. Quaternary International 392, 203–212.Google Scholar
Goffé, B., Michard, A., Kienast, J.R., LeMer, O., 1988. A case of obduction related high P, low T metamorphism in upper crustal nappes, Arabian continental margin, Oman: P-T paths and kinematic interpretation. Tectonophysics 151, 363–386.Google Scholar
Hacker, B.R., Mosenfelder, J.L., Gnos, E., 1996. Rapid emplacement of the Oman ophiolite: thermal and geochronical constrains. Tectonics 15, 1230–1247.Google Scholar
Hansman, J.R., Ring, U., Thomson, N.S., den Brok, B., Stübner, K., 2017. Late Eocene uplift of the Al Hajar Mountains, Oman, supported by stratigraphy and low-temperature thermochronology. Tectonics, 36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2017TC004672.Google Scholar
Hoffmann, G., Rupprechter, M., Mayrhofer, C., 2013. Review of the long-term coastal evolution of North Oman – subsidence versus uplift. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Geowissenschaften 164, 237–252.Google Scholar
Khadivi, S., Mouthereau, F., Barbarand, J., Adatte, T., Lacombe, O., 2012. Constraints on paleodrainage evolution induced by uplift and exhumation on the southern flank of the Zagros-Iranian Plateau. Journal of the Geological Society, London 169, 83–97.Google Scholar
Kontogianni, V., Tsoulos, N., Stiros, C.S., 2002. Coastal uplift, earthquakes and active faulting of Rhodes Island (Aegean Arc): modeling based on geodetic inversion. Marine Geology 186, 299–317.Google Scholar
Kusky, T., Robinson, C., El-Baz, F., 2005. Tertiary-Quaternary faulting and uplift in the northern Oman Hajar Mountains. Journal of the Geological Society, London 162, 871–888.Google Scholar
Laborel, J., Laborel-Deguen, F., 1994. Biological indicators of relative sea-level variations and co-seismic displacements in the Mediterranean region. Journal of Coastal Research 10, 395–415.Google Scholar
Le Métour, J.F., Villey, M., Gramont, X., 1986. Geological map of Quryat sheet NF, 40-4D scale 1:100,000. Directorate General of Minerals, Oman Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals, Muscat.Google Scholar
Lippard, S.J., Shelton, A.W., Gass, I.G., 1986. The Ophiolite of Northern Oman. Geological Society of London, Memoir 11. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.Google Scholar
Manaman, N.S., Shomali, H., Koyi, H., 2011. New constraints on upper-mantle S-velocity structure and crustal thickness of the Iranian plateau using partitioned waveform inversion. Geophysical Journal International 184, 247–267.Google Scholar
Mancini, M., D’Anastasio, E., Barbieri, M., De Martini, P.M., 2007. Geomorphological, paleontological and 87Sr/86Sr isotope analyses of early Pleistocene paleoshorelines to define the uplift of Central Apennines (Italy). Quaternary Research 67, 487–501.Google Scholar
Mann, A., Hanna, S.S., Nolan, S.C., 1990. The post-Campanian tectonic evolution of the Central Oman Mountains: tertiary extension of the Eastern Arabian Margin. In: Robertson, A.H.F., Searle, M.P., Ries, A.C. (Eds.) The Geology and Tectonics of the Oman Region, Geological Society, London, Special Publications 49, 285–305.Google Scholar
Mattern, F., Moraetis, D., Abbasi, I., Al Shukaili, B., Scharf, A., Claereboudt, M., Looker, E., Al Haddabi, N., Pracejus, B., 2018. Coastal dynamics of uplifted and emerged Late Pleistocene near-shore coral patch reefs at Fins (eastern coastal Oman, Gulf of Oman). Journal of African Science 138, 192–200.Google Scholar
Mattern, F., Scharf, A., 2018. Postobductional extension along and within the Frontal Range of the Eastern Oman Mountains. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 154, 369–385.Google Scholar
McClure, H.A., Vita-Finzi, C., 1982. Holocene shorelines and tectonic movements in eastern Saudi Arabia. Tectonophysics 85, T37–T43.Google Scholar
Monthereau, F., 2011. Timing of uplift in the Zagros belt/Iranian plateau and accommodation of late Cenozoic Arabia-Eurasia convergence. Geological Magazine 148, 726–738.Google Scholar
Motaghi, K., Shabanian, E., Tatar, M., Cuffaro, M., Doglioni, C., 2017. The south Zagros suture zone in teleseismic images. Tectonophysics 694, 292–301.Google Scholar
Mount, V.S., Crawford, R.I.S., Bergman, S.C., 1998. Regional Structural style of the Central and Southern Oman Mountains: Jabal Akhdar, Saih Hatat and the Northern Ghaba Basin. GeoArabia 3, 475–490.Google Scholar
Mouslopoulou, V., Begg, J., Nicol, A., Oncken, O., Prior, C., 2015a, Formation of Late Quaternary paleoshorelines in Crete, Eastern Mediterranean. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 431, 294–307.Google Scholar
Mouslopoulou, V., Nicol, A., Begg, J., Oncken, O., Moreno, M., 2015b, Clusters of megaearthquakes on upper plate faults control the Eastern Mediterranean hazard. Geophysical Research Letters 42, 10282–10289.Google Scholar
Mouslopoulou, V., Oncken, O., Hainzl, S., Nicol, A., 2016. Uplift rate transients at subduction margins due to earthquake clustering. Tectonics 35, 2370–2384.Google Scholar
Nolan, S.C., Skelton, P.W., Clissold, B.P., Smewing, J.D., 1990. Maastrichtian to Early Tertiary stratigraphy and paleogeography of the Central and Northern Oman Mountains. In: Robertson, A.H.L., M.P. Searle, Ries, A.C. (Eds.) The Geology and Tectonics of the Oman Region, Geological Society London Special Publication 49, 495–520.Google Scholar
Pavlopoulos, K., Kapsimalis, V., Theodorakopoulou, K., Panagiotopoulos, I., 2012. Vertical displacement trends in the Aegean coastal zone (NE Mediterranean) during the Holocene assessed by geo-archeological data. Holocene 22, 717–728.Google Scholar
Pedoja, K., Bourgeois, J., Pinegina, T., Higman, B., 2006. Does Kamchatka belong to North America? An extruding Okhotsk block suggested by coastal neotectonics of the Ozernoi Peninsula, Kamchatka, Russia. Geology 34, 353–356.Google Scholar
Pedoja, K., Husson, L., Johnson, E.M., Melnick, D., Witt, C., Pochat, S., Nexer, M., et al., 2014. Coastal staircase sequences reflecting sea-level oscillations and tectonic uplift during the Quaternary and Neogene. Earth Science Reviews 132, 13–38.Google Scholar
Pedoja, K., Husson, L., Regard, V., Cobbold, P.R., Ostanciaux, E., Johnson, M.E., Kershaw, S., et al., 2011. Relative sea-level fall since the last interglacial stage: are coasts uplifting worldwide? Earth Science Reviews 108, 1–15.Google Scholar
Pirazzoli, P., 1986. Marine notches. In: van der Plassche, O. (Ed.), Sea-level Research: A Manual for the Collection and Evaluation of Data. GeoBooks, Norwich, pp. 361–399.Google Scholar
Pirazzoli, P.A., Laborel, J., Stiros, S.C., 1996. Earthquake clustering in the Eastern Mediterranean during historical times. Journal of Geophysical Research 101, 6083–6097.Google Scholar
Pirazzoli, P., Stiros, S.C., Arnold, M., Papageorgiou, S., 1994. Episodic uplift deduced from Holocene shorelines in the Perachora peninsula, Corinth area, Greece. Tectonophysics 229, 201–209.Google Scholar
Poupeau, G., Saddiqi, O., Michard, A., Goffé, B., Oberhänsli, R., 1998. Late thermal evolution of the Oman Mountains subophiolitic windows: apatite fission-track thermochronology. Geology 26, 1139–1142.Google Scholar
Preston, W.G., Thomas, S.G.D., Goudie, S.A., Atkinson, A.C.O., Leng, J.M., Hodson, J.M., Walkington, H., et al., 2015. A multi-proxy analysis of the Holocene humid phase from the United Arab Emirates and its implications for southeast Arabia’s Neolithic populations. Quaternary International 382, 277–292.Google Scholar
Radies, D., Hasiotis, S.T., Preusse, F., Neubert, E., Matter, A., 2005. Paleoclimatic significance of the Early Holocene faunal assemblages in wet interdune depositions of the Wahiba Sand Sea, Sultanate of Oman. Journal of Arid Environments 62, 109–125.Google Scholar
Regard, V., Saillard, M., Martinod, J., Audin, L., Carretier, S., Pedoja, K., Riquelme, R., Paredes, P., Hérail, G., 2010. Renewed uplift of the Central Andes Forearc revealed by coastal evolution during the Quaternary. Earth and Planetary Science Letter 297, 199–210.Google Scholar
Reimer, P.J., Bard, E., Bayliss, A., Beck, J.W., Blackwell, P.G., Bronk Ramsey, C., Grootes, P.M., et al., 2013. IntCal13 and Marine13 Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curves 0–50,000 Years cal BP. Radiocarbon 55, 1869–1887.Google Scholar
Reuter, H.I, Nelson, A., Javris, A., 2007. An evaluation of void filling interpolation methods for SRTM data. International Journal of Information Science 21, 983–1008.Google Scholar
Ridley, A.P., Seeley, W.M., 1979. Evidence of recent coastal uplift near Al Jubail Saudi Arabia. Tectonophysics 52, 319–327.Google Scholar
Rodgers, D.W., Gunatilaka, A., 2002. Bajada formation by monsoonal erosion of a subaerial forebulge, Sultanate of Oman. Sedimentary Geology 154, 127–146.Google Scholar
Rohde, R.A., 2011. Composite Sea-level Curves (accessed March 2018). https://www.e-education.psu.edu/earth107/node/908.Google Scholar
Saddiqi, O., Michard, A., Goffé, B., Poupeau, G., Oberhänsli, R., 2006. Fission-track thermochronology of the Oman Mountains continental widows, and current problems of tectonic interpretation. Bulletin de la Societe Geologique de France 3, 127–134.Google Scholar
Sadler, P.M., 1981. Sediment accumulation rates and the completeness of stratigraphic sections. The Journal of Geology 89, 569–584.Google Scholar
Scharf, A., Mattern, F., Al Sadi, S., 2016. Kinematics of Post-obduction Deformation of the Tertiary Ridge at Al-Khod Village (Muscat Area, Oman). Sultan Qaboos University Journal for Science 21, 26–40.Google Scholar
Searle, M.P., Malpas, J., 1980. Structure and metamorphism of rocks beneath the Semail ophiolite of Oman and their significance in ophiolite obduction. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 71, 247–262.Google Scholar
Shackleton, N.J., 1987. Oxygen isotopes, ice volume and sea level. Quaternary Science Review 6, 183–190.Google Scholar
Siddall, M., Rohling, E.J., Almogi-Labin, A., Hemleben, Ch., Meischner, D., Schmelzer, I., Smeed, D.A., 2003. Sea-level fluctuations during the last glacial cycle. Nature 423, 853–858.Google Scholar
Southon, J., Kashgarian, M., Fontugne, M., Metivier, B., Yim, W.W-S., 2002. Marine reservoir corrections for the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia. Radiocarbon 44, 167–180.Google Scholar
Stiros, S., 1996. Late Holocene relative sea-level changes in SW Crete: evidence of an unusual earthquake cycle. Annali Di Geofisica 39, 677–687.Google Scholar
Stiros, S.C., Arnold, M., Pirazzoli, P.A., Laborel, J., Laborel, F., Papageorgiou, S., 1992. Historical coseismic uplift on Euboea island, Greece. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 108, 109–117.Google Scholar
Stiros, C.S., Laborel, J., Laborel-Deguen, F., Morhange, C., 2011. Quaternary and Holocene coastal uplift in Ikaria Island, Aegean Sea. Geodinamica Acta 24, 123–131.Google Scholar
Thatcher, W., 1984. The earthquake deformation cycle, recurrence, and the time-predictable model. Journal of Geophysical Research 89, 5674–5680.Google Scholar
Vernant, P., Nilforoushan, F., Hatzfeld, D., Abassi, M.R., Vigny, C., Masson, F., Nankali, H., et al., 2004. Present-day crustal deformation and plate kinematics in the Middle East constrained by GPS measurements in Iran and northern Oman. Geophysical Journal International 157, 381–398.Google Scholar
Watts, A.B., Karner, G.D., Steckler, M.S., 1982. Lithospheric flexure and the evolution of sedimentary basins. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, 305. doi: 10.1098/rsta.1982.0036 Google Scholar
White, S.R., 1984. Active and passive plate boundaries around the Gulf of Oman, North-West Indian Ocean. Deep Sea Research Part A . Oceanographic Research Papers 31, 731–745.Google Scholar
Wood, W.W., Bailey, R.M., Hampton, B.A., Kraemer, T F., Lu, Z., Clark, D.W., James, R.H.R., Al Ramadan, K., 2012. Rapid Late Pleistocene/Holocene Uplift and Coastal Evolution of the Southern Arabian (Persian) Gulf. Quaternary Research 77, 215–220.Google Scholar
Wyns, R., Bechennec, F., Metour, J., Le, R.J., 1992a. Geological map of Tiwi sheet NF, 40-8B scale 1:100,000. Directorate General of Minerals, Oman Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals, Muscat.Google Scholar
Wyns, R., Bechennec, F., Metour, J., Le, R.J., Chevrel, S., 1992b. Geological map of Sur sheet, NF, 40-08 scale 1:250,000. Directorate General of Minerals, Oman Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals, Muscat.Google Scholar
Xu, X., Khosh, M.S., Druffel-Rodriguez, K.C., Trumbore, S.E., Southon, J.R., 2010. Is the consensus value of ANU sucrose (IAEA C-6) too high? Radiocarbon 52, 866–874.Google Scholar
Xu, X., Shen, C., Stills, K.A., Southon, R.J., 2013. Homogeneity evaluation of Chinese sugar carbon (CSC) standard for AMS 14C measurement. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 294, 430–434.Google Scholar
Yuan, Y., Kusky, T.M., Rajendran, S., 2016. Tertiary and Quaternary marine terraces and planation surfaces of Northern Oman: interaction of flexural bulge migration associated with the Arabian-Eurasian collision and eustatic sea level changes. Journal of Earth Science 27, 955–970.Google Scholar
Zazzo, A., Munoz, O., Saliège, J.-F., Moreau, C., 2012. Variability in the marine radiocarbon reservoir effect in Muscat (Sultanate of Oman) during the 4th millennium BC: reflection of taphonomy or environment? Journal of Archaeological Science 39, 2559–2567.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Moraetis et al. supplementary material

Moraetis et al. supplementary material 1

Download Moraetis et al. supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 20.8 MB