Quantitative Characterisation of Intertidal to Supratidal Sediments of the Abu Dhabi Coastline

The Abu Dhabi coastline provides an ideal setting for the study of sedimentary systems inferred to bedirectly analogous to those which deposited many of the regions Mesozoic petroleum reservoirs.Improved understanding of these complex depositional environments, supported by quantitativesedimentological data, is essential to the development of accurate depositional models and reliablesimulations for carbonate reservoirs.The arid southern shore of the Arabian Gulf has an extremely low-angle ramp geometry. The coast islocally protected from open marine conditions by a number of peninsulas and offshore shoals andislands. Sedimentary processes in the supratidal zone are dominated by the precipitation of evaporiteminerals in the shallow sub-surface. A broad carbonate-evaporite intertidal setting, characterised bycomplex depositional facies geometries, passes off-shore, into a subtidal carbonate depositional environment.The coastline of the United Arab Emirates is currently undergoing massive infrastructure developmentat an unprecedented scale, with huge dredging and island-building projects changing the sedimentarydynamics of the coast beyond recognition. The impending loss of many of the natural coastal systemsgives further impetus to the need for accurately recording these sedimentary environments before theyare eradicated by the anthropogenic overprint.This study employs a range of analytical techniques to investigate and characterise the surface.