The inland reaches of the ecoregion are a flat extension of the coastal plain, ending at the red-brown dunes of the ad-Dahna Desert and in the south at the edge of the "Empty Quarter" of Saudi Arabia, the Rub' al Khali.

[3] The geology of the plains are marine sediments laid down in the Tertiary (66 to 3 million years ago), when the region was intermittently submerged.

This climate features stable air and high pressure aloft, producing a hot, arid desert.

The vulnerable Socotra cormorant (Phalacrocorax nigrogularis) is resident in significant colonies, particularly in a protected area of the Hawar Islands of Bahrain.

[4] Inland, small patches of irrigated land above aquifers create wetland habitats that support migrating birds and species that include Marsh frogs (Rana ridibunda) and Caspian pond turtles (Clemmys caspica).

The result of the pollution was the death of thousands of water birds and serious damage to the Persian Gulf's aquatic ecosystem, particularly shrimp, sea turtles, dugongs, whales, dolphins and fish.