Geomorphology of the Jebel Qara and coastal plain of Salalah (Dhofar, southern Sultanate of Oman)

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. ARTICLE HISTORY

Vegetation and cloud cover shape semi‐arid carbonate landform development

“…This might not be the case, because the timescale of drainage basin evolution can be comparable to the timescale of climatic oscillations (Tucker & Slingerland, 1997). Oxygen isotope records from stalagmites collected in our study area indicate that the Indian Ocean monsoon has been affecting the climate of the Jabal Al Qara mountains for the past 10 ky (Cremaschi et al, 2015; Fleitmann et al, 2003; Zerboni et al, 2020). These records therefore suggest that today's hydrological gradient between the ocean and inland sides has been present during the entire Holocene.…”

Geomorphology of the northwestern Kurdistan Region of Iraq: landscapes of the Zagros Mountains drained by the Tigris and Great Zab Rivers

“…Mapping of the area was performed on data interpreted from both remote sensing images and field observations, according to the approach proposed by several authors for mapping arid and semi-arid regions (Azzoni et al, 2017;Costanzo et al, 2021;Hüneburg et al, 2019;Perego et al, 2011;Zerboni et al, 2015Zerboni et al, , 2020.…”

“…Karst related processes are very active in the study area, especially well expressed in the mountains, where the combination of tectonic deformation, uplift and climate-related processes produced epikarst and ipokarst landforms (Fouad, 2014;Sissakian et al, 2015). The most evident karstic landforms formed by the combination of prolonged deep and surface dissolution, fluvial erosion, vertical uplift and a further lithological constraint due to limestone resistance to erosion (Zerboni et al, 2020). The interaction of these processes produces a complex system of incised deep gorges, canyons and gullies erosion on monocline limestone slopes and some large polje-like depressions that open towards the main drainage systems (Stevanović et al, 2009).…”

“…This is ultimately related to present-day climatic settings and Quaternary rainfall variations (Goudie, 2013). By contrast, in tectonically dynamic regions like the KRI, the evolution of surface processes is often controlled by the interplay between climate changes and tectonic influence, namely uplift, faulting and folding (Hüneburg et al, 2019;Zerboni et al, 2020).…”

The Eneolithic/Bronze Age Transition at Tegole di Bovino (Apulia): Geoarchaeological Evidence of Climate Change and Land-Use Shift

“…Rapid anthropogenic deforestation and/or overgrazing of soils in the context of progressive reduction of water availability [94] may have enhanced the effect of surface processes leading to the dismantling and removal of the pristine Holocene soil cover. Elsewhere, prehistoric and historical records point to the coupled effect of climatic changes-triggered surface processes and human agency as a major cause of soil loss [14,15,29,[95][96][97][98][99][100].…”