Abstract
ABSTRACT We present the results of the geomorphological mapping of a region of the Dhofar (Sultanate of Oman) including two contrasting physiographic units sharing a common drainage system into the Arabian Sea: the Jebel Qara limestone massif and the coastal plain of Salalah. Neogene to Quaternary tectonic activity controlled the formation of an extensive system of faults and caused the uplift of the Jebel Qara, forming structural escarpments. The massif underwent karstification and subsequent linear erosion. Today the Jebel is cut by a dendritic net of dry valleys, occasionally dammed by calcareous tufa dams. The transition between the southern escarpment of the Jebel and the plain below displays flat alluvial fans, bordered by a strip of beachrock, coastal dunes, and coastal lagoons, located in correspondence to estuaries. Dramatic soil erosion is evident, linked to intense human-triggered zoogeomorphological processes started in the Mid-Late Holocene after the introduction of pastoral land-use.
Highlights
The landscape of Earth’s deserts is generally inherited from a variety of geomorphological processes acting since the Neogene (El-Baz, 1988; Goudie, 2002; Knight & Zerboni, 2018; Parsons & Abrahams, 2009)
The coastal deserts of the Sultanate of Oman are suitable places to investigate the evolution of landscapes as a response to endogenous and exogenous geomorphological processes, combined with long-lasting human exploitation
We selected an area in the Dhofar region of the southern Sultanate of Oman, which includes (i) the mountain massif of the Jebel Qara, and (ii) the coastal plain of Salalah (Figure 1)
Summary
The landscape of Earth’s deserts is generally inherited from a variety of geomorphological processes acting since the Neogene (El-Baz, 1988; Goudie, 2002; Knight & Zerboni, 2018; Parsons & Abrahams, 2009). The coastal deserts of the Sultanate of Oman are suitable places to investigate the evolution of landscapes as a response to endogenous and exogenous geomorphological processes, combined with long-lasting human exploitation. For these reasons, we selected an area in the Dhofar region of the southern Sultanate of Oman, which includes (i) the mountain massif of the Jebel Qara, and (ii) the coastal plain of Salalah (Figure 1). Rainfall supports the groundwater supply to oases along the coast, and to shrubs and trees on the southern coastal side of the mountain, whereas its northern part is an arid steppe (Galletti, Turner, & Myint, 2016; Rogers, 1980; Sale, 1980)
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