The sabkha of abu dhabi was formed during the past 7,000 years by wind erosion of pre. Late quaternary reflooding of the persian gulf climaxed with the midholocene highstand previously variously dated between 6 and 3. A section across the arabian peninsula during miocene when the red sea began to open. Application of engineering geology in land reclamation project from persian gulf morteza sheshpari dept. Verification of the persian gulf sea level changes in. The basin is located at the junction of the arabian shield and iranian continental block that belong to two different arabian and eurasian lithospheric plates. Holocene, sea level change, persian gulf, cores, introduction the persian gulf is a back arc basin and marginal sea, and its average depth is about 35m. The dramatic landscape of carlsbad caverns national park would not have existed without a distinguishing series of geologic events and processes. The persian gulf basin, is found between the eurasian and the arabian plate. This volume, although not an integrated synthesis, treats most aspects of holocene sedimenta tion and diagenesis in the persian gulf, grouping 22 contributions under a single cover and in one language. The persian gulf basin is the richest region of the world in terms of hydrocarbon resources.
Limestone is forming in the caribbean sea, indian ocean, persian gulf, gulf of mexico, around pacific ocean islands, and within the indonesian archipelago. Since the permian the uae was in low latitude by the equator, and became the depositional site of carbonate that consists excellent reservoirs. Geological survey undertook the publishing of the volume. The persian gulf is described as a shallow marginal sea of the indian ocean that is located between the south western side of iran and the arabian peninsula and south and southeastern side of oman and the united arab emirates. Map showing oil and gas fields of the arabian persian gulf with reservoirs in jurassic rocks 33. Reservoir characterization and pore type systems of carbonate low resistivity pay in persian gulf bita arbab, davod jahani, bahram movahed department of geology, basic science faculty, north tehran branch, islamic azad university, tehran, iran abstract the main focus of study is to characterize lower and upper cretaceous carbo. Primary elements of these paleozoic and jurassic petroleum systemssource, reservoir, and seal rocksare of great areal extent and. This map shows the location of eleven of the worlds largest oil spills. The persian gulf naming dispute is concerned with the name of the body of water known historically and internationally as the persian gulf persian. The arabian plate tectonic origin is grouped into six phases which contributed to its current geology. The gazetteer was intended as handbook for british policy makers and agents in the area. Despite the intensive petroleum exploration which has taken place in the persian gulf over the past seventy years, relatively little has been published in the petroleum geology literature. Geologic overview and petroleum systems of the greater ghawar.
The united states navy and the persian gulf by michael a. Oceanographically, the persian gulf is a shallow sea with a maximum depth of only 60 m. The shatt alarab river delta forms the northwest shoreline. Pdf petroleum geology and geochemistry of the persian.
Most of the structural highs, which were easily found, have been. Translation of a captured map overlay showing iraqi army positions in the 1st and 2nd marine divisions zones 234k. It is a landscape where the world famous caves are not the only attraction. It shows the rift zone over ophiolite in the tethys sea. One of these areas is the bahamas platform, located in the atlantic ocean about 100 miles southeast of southern florida see satellite image. Omani role in the persian gulf war, 1991 372 internal security 374 appendix. Style and age of deformation in the nw persian gulf. Reservoir characterization and pore type systems of. The mineral resources for oman include copper, asbestos, chromium, gypsum, limestone and some marble. Deformation of the musandam peninsula in the late cretaceous and mid. Its length is some 615 miles 990 km, and its width varies from a maximum of about 210 miles 340 km to a minimum of 35 miles 55 km.
The colored squares indicate the source of the spill war red, a well on land green, a well in the ocean blue or a ship black. Each author prepared a description of the geology of the area for which he was responsible, as shown in the sources of geologic compilation diagram on the peninsular map. The data consist of two orthogonal sets of 2d seismic sections. The sea has an area of about 93,000 square miles 241,000 square km. Neogene stratigraphic development of the arabian persian gulf 5a. Department of the interior, united states geological survey. Geologic overview and petroleum systems of the greater. A collection of these countries is commonly referred to as the middle east which is the oilrich location in the south western side of the asia continent.
The intention of this book is to provide a detailed synthesis of the available information published on the petroleum geology of the persian gulf. Paleogeneformed most of arabia, the gulf, eastern iraq, and most of southwestern iran. The gazetteer was compiled and written by john gordon lorimer 18701914, an official of the indian civil service. Persian gulf geomorphologypersian gulf geomorphology. Geology of the western persian gulf quadrangle, kingdom of. Paleogeographic map of jurassic subbasins of arabian persian gulf region 34. Regional geology the persian gulf is a foreland basin in front of the zagros foldthrust belt along the northeastern margin of the africanarabian plate. Assiduously researched and sensitively written, persian gulf command offers us a fascinating new perspective on the second world war its impact on local societies in the middle east and the paths to postwar intervention by the west. Gazetteer of the persian gulf, oman and central arabia online. In the iranian persian gulf several fields have been producing oil from middle cretaceous carbonates. Folds trending nnessw and ns arabian trend and nwse zagros trend are documented. The persian gulf floor is unstable from tectonics point of view and has a sharp slope on the iranian side. The capture of baghdad by the ottoman empire in 1534 gave turkey access to the indian ocean via the port of basra at the head of the persian gulf.
According to different estimates, the basin contains 5568% of recoverable oil reserves and more than 40% of gas reserves. During the mesozoic most of the arabian peninsula, persian gulf, south. Late quaternary sealevel changes of the persian gulf. Persian gulf states study 1 united states marine corps. The geology of the persian gulfgulf of oman region. Gulf of mexico gulf of alaska labrador sea chukchi sea banda sea arafura sea timor sea luzon strait gulf of bothnia persian gulf gulf of oman sea of azov gulf of tonkin gulf of thailand drake passage ross sea bellingshausen sea amundsen sea great australian bight t r f gulf of carpentaria bay of biscay sea laccadive mozambique channel gulf of.
Tables 379 bibliography 417 glossary 435 index 441 contributors 469 list of figures 1 persian gulf states. Geology and ground water hydrology of the state of kuwait. A highest point of persian gulf which is more than 5,000 meters high in some places is located in this topographic unit. Middle east geology why the middle east fields may produce. The fuel resources in this country include the fossil fuels of petroleum and natural gas. Pdf petroleum geology and geochemistry of the persian gulf. Chapter 17 structure of the gulf of paria pullapart basin. Examination of the stratigraphic and paleoenvironmental context of a midholocene whale beaching allows us to accurately constrain the timing of the transgressive, highstand and regressive phases of the mid to late holocene sealevel highstand in the persian. Reservoir characterization and pore type systems of carbonate. This name has become contested by some arab countries since the 1960s in connection with the emergence of panarabism and arab nationalism, resulting in the invention. Saddam inflicted his heaviest blows against the environment by ordering iraqi troops to set 700 kuwaiti oil wells on fire and to spill millions of gallons of oil into. Because these sediments and diagenetic minerals are comparable to those existing in many ancient.
Isopach map of petroleum sourcepotential units of upper jurassic tuwaiq mountain formation 35. The area is subdivided into nejd and hassa persian gulf subprovinces. According to different estimates, the basin contains 5568% of recoverable oil reserves and more than. Sealevel change in the persian gulf since the time of the last maximum glaciation at about 18. Introduction new structural geology in northwest persian gulf. Geologic map of the western persian gulf quadrangle, kingdom of saudi arabia persian gulf quadrangle, kingdom of saudi arabia. A study of brines and diagenetically altered minerals from the coastal sabkha of abu dhabi, persian gulf, was undertaken to test the flood rechargeevaporative pumping model for early dolomitization using strontium isotopes as a tracer. Tertiary by compression subduction from the east and southwest, collision of the arabian platform and eurasian plate along the zagros crush zone during the oligocene or early miocene. While iraq did launch scud missiles into israel and saudi arabia, they did not cause a lot of damage. The presentday persian gulf, together with its northwestern continuation now infilled by the deposits of the mesopotamian rivers, is the remains of a once much larger basin of deposition aligned northwest to southeast that existed throughout much of geologic history. Abstract the study area is located in the foreland and in the frontal part of the zagros range persian gulf, which contains very large oil and gas fields.
Geology of the western persian gulf quadrangle, kingdom of saudi arabia imap 208 a by. Source rocks of these systems extend throughout the eastern arabian peninsula and arabian persian gulf. These sediments consist of paleozoic, mesozoic nearly complete section, tertiary, and recent deposits. The nearly landlocked persian gulf, between the zagros mountains to the northeast and the arabian platform to the southwest, is 800 km long, 185 to 115 km wide, has a median depth of 35 m, an area of 226,000 km 2 and a sill depth of 86 m emery, 1956. Shoreline reconstructions for the persian gulf since the last. This unit is dragged near waters of persian gulf in some places and in addition to coast, heights and reliefs have been also cause of bed of. Lithological boundaries are obvious and are the focus for the correlation of the interwell areas. The gulf of paria is the link between the serranfa del interior of venezuela and the central and southern the south caribbean plate boundary range of trinidad. The eastern area has easterly dipping sedimentary rocks overlying the basal igneous and metamorphic complex. The writer attempts to reevaluate depositional history, diastrophism, structure, and oil productivity in the greater persian gulf area, and to offer additional reasons for the great petroleum richness of this area.
High unit located in south of iran is placed parallel and along persian gulf. Persian gulf khor al bazam 3 red sea 3 invertebrata arthropoda mandibulata crustacea. Geology of saudi arabia university of texas at austin. The greater paleozoic and jurassic petroleum systems of the arabian peninsula form two of the most prolific petroleumproducing systems in the world. Late quaternary stratigraphy, paleoclimate and neotectonism. Application of engineering geology in land reclamation. The persian gulf coast of the arabian peninsula is a flat area of dunes and sabkha, a supratidal area consisting of mud flats just above the normal high tide level in arid and semiarid coastal regions. Military geology and the gulf war military geology in war.
Neogene stratigraphic development of the arabian persian gulf stephen a. Jeffrey rose, an archaeologist and researcher with the university of birmingham in the u. Geological studies of these fields limited to industry reports describe the subsurface using lithostratigraphic principles. In general, persian gulf region excluding persian gulf water area constitutes two major morphological units, i. Most of the structural highs, which were easily found, have been drilled. Beck mcneese state university us persian arabian gulf reservoirs may be continually recharged from rift zones below. Arabian sea, ghubbat sawqirah, gulf of oman, khalij masira, persian gulf arabian gulf, turat masirah, wadi aswad and wadi musallim. Lost civilization may have existed beneath the persian gulf. In this assignment, students explore the origin and distribution of oil and gas in a region of global significance, the middle east in particular, the persian gulf region, including the geologic history and the sociopolitical and environmental issues associated with hydrocarbon exploration and production. View the article pdf and any associated supplements and figures for a period of 48 hours. Geology and productivity of persian gulf synclinorium. Lees 1950 was among the first to describe the fundamental depositional history and struc ture of the greater persian gulf area, and thus to outline the geologic.
This volume, the geology of the arabian peninsula, is a logical consequence of the geographic and geologic mapping project of the arabian peninsula, a cooperative venture. In addition to the introductory paper this volume includes 24 papers, covering selected aspects of the history of military geology from the early 19th century through the recent persian gulf war, military education and operations, terrain analysis, engineering geology in the military, use of military geology in diplomacy and peace keeping, and. The persian gulf holocene carbonate sedimentation and. The persian gulf war was one of the most lopsided conflicts in history. Major mountain units of region have been created in north of persian gulf, and loot and kavir plains have constituted intermountain units of this part.