Dubai Natural History Group - Inter-Emirates Week-end
A trip across geological signatures of plate tectonics movement :
the closure of Tethys Ocean in UAE seen from Dubai to Kalba

Friday, 24 February 2012
Please, consult this page regularly as new informations and documents will be online.

An introduction to the structure and geology of the ophiolite thrust sheet (or "nappe") which makes up most of the Hajar Mountains. Drive and explore a cross-section from the mountain front at Jebel Fayah to the top of the thrust sheet in Wadi Hiluw. This region represents the "signature" of the closing of the Tethys Sea that separated Arabia from Asia during most of the Mesozoic Era.

Details

  • When : on Friday 24 February 2012
  • Departure : 8:15 am from hotel parking lot to be at meeting point by 9:00 am sharp.
  • Route to meeting point : Airport Road to E311 (Emirates Road), take direction Sharjah, exit at National Paints flyover, take Sharjah-Mleiha-Kalba Road.
  • Starts at meeting point : 9:00 am sharp.
  • Meeting point : Emarat petrol station located at Al Qalaa. This is the first petrol station on Kalba motorway after you pass Bypass Outer Ring (N 25° 14' 03,63 - E 55° 34' 26,1"). Refer to Google map provided in document list below.
  • Approximate duration : from 9.00 am (meeting point) to 5.30 pm (hotel).
  • Return : 4.00 pm to be back to the hotel at 5.30 pm. Keep the Google map printing with you to have a safe return to Dubai, as we won't make a convoy coming back.
  • 4x4 : 4WD required for access at Jebel Buhais and recommended (but not required) for the Wadi Hiluw track.
    Please come with a full tank of fuel or fill up at the meeting point.
  • Trip leader : Jean-Paul Berger
  • Food / Lunch : at around 1.00 pm in a wadi near Munai. You must take your own picnic and enough water for the whole day (minimum 2 liters per person).
  • Clothes / equipment :  hat or other sun protection, sun cream, sun glasses, sturdy footwear, camera, magnifying glass, binoculars and printed documents provided on this web page, ...
  • Group is limited at 20 participants / 8 cars. Please do not forget that it's always better to share cars to make the convoy as small as possible.
  • No borders or check points crossed, however it is always good to keep your ID with you, just in case.

Trip documents to consult and preferably download

  • Map of the trip
  • Jebel Fayah a Miocene eroded anticline
    • Introduction
    • Stop 1 - Jebel Mileiha - A view on the piedmont
      • Satellite picture of Hajar piedmont - Download
    • Stop 2 - The anticline seen from Jebel Buhays
      • A flight over the eroded anticline of Jebel Fayah Range with Google Earth from north (Jebel Mileiha) to south (Jebel Buhays) - Download kmz file (If the image is not clear at the first time, replay it)
  • Hajar Mountains (Aswad block)
    A travel through the ophiolite sequence (oceanic crust), from the bottom (the upper mantle) to the top (the basaltic pillow lavas)
    • Satellite view of the visited area crossing Hajar Mountains from west to east - Download
    • Extract of a geological map of the southern part visited in Hajar Mountains - Download
    • Pylon stop

      • Extract of geological map to analyse the view - Download
    • The layered Gabbros in wadi Hiluw (below to the right)
    • The Sheeted Dyke Complex in wadi Wahalah (below)

    • The rooting zone of the sheeted dyke complex, a transition between high level Kalba leucogabbro and the dark diabases.

    • The basaltic Pillow-lavas in wadi Wahalah

Documents on ophiolites in the region

    • The ophiolites in the region (in french!) - Download
    • Oceanic crust structure (d'après Nicolas 1989, in french!) - Download
    • Schematical diagram of Ophiolite sequence - Download
    • Schematical diagram of Mixed Unit sequence in UAE Ophiolites - Download
    • Mineral differentiation of the mantel material through the oceanic crust (D'après Juteau, in french!) - Download
    • Remarkable geodynamic characteristics of the North-Oman margin in the Upper Cretaceous - Download
    • Geological scale - Download
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The sky in Dubai on February the 25th at 7.30 (From Stellarium)