Geology of the United Arab Emirates

The geology of the United Arab Emirates includes very thick Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic marine and continental sedimentary rocks overlying deeply buried Precambrian.

[citation needed] The early Cretaceous is marked by the fossil-bearing Shuaiba Formation, which contains breccia and mollusk-rich limestone as well as ammonite fossils.

The Middle Cretaceous Wasia Group, including the Nahr Umr, Salbikh and Mishrif formations occurs between Abu Dhabi and Qatar and deposited during a time of moderate uplift and erosion.

In the Paleogene, the Qatar Arch was comparatively stable and Abu Dhabi was at the edge of the Rub al Khali and Pabdeh-Gurpi (centered in the North Emirates) basins.

The Umm Er Radhuma Formation ranges from 1150 feet in the northwest to 2300 in the east with limestone, dolomite, argillite, sabkha cycles, shale and anhydrite.

A return to lower salinity and shallow marine conditions in the Middle Eocene deposited the nummulitic carbonates of the Dammam Formation, as well as dolomite and subordinate shales.

Muds, sabkha deposits, windblown sand, conglomerate limestone, beach gravel and silt are all defining sediments of the past 2.5 million years of the Quaternary.