{"title":"Sedimentological evidence of Late Pleistocene Shorelines in Oman","authors":"V. Decker , M. Falkenroth , G. Hoffmann","doi":"10.1016/j.margeo.2024.107407","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As the climate crisis intensifies, estimating sea-level rise will become increasingly relevant, in particular assessing changes in the relative sea level in different regions. One key to comprehending global sea-level changes is the study of past sea-level highstands. Many regional studies help refine the reconstruction of paleo sea levels globally. Thus far, the Middle East remains understudied.</div><div>This paper presents evidence for Quaternary sea-level variations along the shores of the western Indian Ocean. Eight coastal outcrops along the northern and eastern coasts of Oman are presented in detail. The sedimentological evidence for sea-level highstands varies within the study area. However, in relation to recent sea-level conditions, all of these marine and beach deposits are now found well above the environments where such formations would typically form. Dating the timing of sea-level highstands remains a challenging task within the study area. In different studies, attempts to <sup>14</sup>C date samples from that area were unsuccessful, as the time of sediment deposition lies beyond the dating limit of <sup>14</sup>C, precluding a Holocene formation of these sediments. Thus, the sediments are regarded as deposits formed during Pleistocene sea-level highstands, presumably during MIS 5e. For some sections, optically stimulated luminescence dating could provide a solution, as igneous source rocks supply quartz and feldspar. This paper aims to localise eight sea-level related outcrops along the Omani coast and depict their potential for future work, which should include dating and elevation measurements. Through this, our work contributes to the ongoing effort to globally identify records of sea-level changes, as well as providing insights into the regional setting in Oman.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18229,"journal":{"name":"Marine Geology","volume":"477 ","pages":"Article 107407"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Marine Geology","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025322724001919","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"GEOSCIENCES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
As the climate crisis intensifies, estimating sea-level rise will become increasingly relevant, in particular assessing changes in the relative sea level in different regions. One key to comprehending global sea-level changes is the study of past sea-level highstands. Many regional studies help refine the reconstruction of paleo sea levels globally. Thus far, the Middle East remains understudied.
This paper presents evidence for Quaternary sea-level variations along the shores of the western Indian Ocean. Eight coastal outcrops along the northern and eastern coasts of Oman are presented in detail. The sedimentological evidence for sea-level highstands varies within the study area. However, in relation to recent sea-level conditions, all of these marine and beach deposits are now found well above the environments where such formations would typically form. Dating the timing of sea-level highstands remains a challenging task within the study area. In different studies, attempts to 14C date samples from that area were unsuccessful, as the time of sediment deposition lies beyond the dating limit of 14C, precluding a Holocene formation of these sediments. Thus, the sediments are regarded as deposits formed during Pleistocene sea-level highstands, presumably during MIS 5e. For some sections, optically stimulated luminescence dating could provide a solution, as igneous source rocks supply quartz and feldspar. This paper aims to localise eight sea-level related outcrops along the Omani coast and depict their potential for future work, which should include dating and elevation measurements. Through this, our work contributes to the ongoing effort to globally identify records of sea-level changes, as well as providing insights into the regional setting in Oman.
期刊介绍:
Marine Geology is the premier international journal on marine geological processes in the broadest sense. We seek papers that are comprehensive, interdisciplinary and synthetic that will be lasting contributions to the field. Although most papers are based on regional studies, they must demonstrate new findings of international significance. We accept papers on subjects as diverse as seafloor hydrothermal systems, beach dynamics, early diagenesis, microbiological studies in sediments, palaeoclimate studies and geophysical studies of the seabed. We encourage papers that address emerging new fields, for example the influence of anthropogenic processes on coastal/marine geology and coastal/marine geoarchaeology. We insist that the papers are concerned with the marine realm and that they deal with geology: with rocks, sediments, and physical and chemical processes affecting them. Papers should address scientific hypotheses: highly descriptive data compilations or papers that deal only with marine management and risk assessment should be submitted to other journals. Papers on laboratory or modelling studies must demonstrate direct relevance to marine processes or deposits. The primary criteria for acceptance of papers is that the science is of high quality, novel, significant, and of broad international interest.