Do wadis reach the sea?
Question:
I am a PhD student from London studying palaeoclimatic change offshore southern Iran and northern Oman. I was wondering if you could answer a question for me as I’m struggling to find any information elsewhere. The wadis you mention on your website Wadis bani Awf, Sahtan and bani kharus draining Al Hajar to the north, do they flow into the Gulf of Oman or do they not reach the sea? I am looking at sediment cores just off the coast in the Gulf of Oman and was wondering if in wetter periods in the past (e.g. Holocene wet period) the wadis in flash flood (or permanently) would reach the ocean and leave a signal in the sediment?
Thank you for your help, your website has been most helpful as an introduction to the area.
Answer:
Wadi bani Awf and Wadi Sahtan lie south of the Nakhl-Rustaq road, but still drain northwards from the Al Hajar mountains towards the Gulf of Oman. They join to become Wadi bani Ghafir which in turn drains into Wadi Hawqayn.
Both Wadi bani Ghafir and Wadi bani Kharus might be called perennial wadis in places in years of plentiful rainfall, but instead of surface water draining to the sea, the water infiltrates into shallow groundwater aquifers. These wadis drain northwards across the Batinah Plain which is 20-30 km wide in the area of study that you name and many coalesce. Extremely coarse alluvial deposits are highly characteristic of the foothills to the south of the Batinah because of the force of the water flow. Fine sediment collects in pockets where water has formed pools and then evaporated. Even near the coast, deposits may be highly pebbly and coarse.
I have seen shallow water flow in Wadi bani Ghafir in September 1994, upstream from (ie south of) the main coastal road.
Had you considered trying to obtain satellite imagery of the region following the cyclone of 6th June 2007? The coastal roads along the Batinah were inundated by flash floods racing from the mountains through all the wadis. Unfortunately, the imagery may be masked by cloud. Most of the water would have gone down by just a week later. At the time, it was possible to monitor water flow using Google Earth imagery.
Sohar experienced intensive flash flooding in severe rainfall in 1988. The waters surged down Wadi Hawasina and out to sea. Similarly, wadis in Muscat became raging torrents last year and the water certainly reached the sea.
I am a PhD student from London studying palaeoclimatic change offshore southern Iran and northern Oman. I was wondering if you could answer a question for me as I’m struggling to find any information elsewhere. The wadis you mention on your website Wadis bani Awf, Sahtan and bani kharus draining Al Hajar to the north, do they flow into the Gulf of Oman or do they not reach the sea? I am looking at sediment cores just off the coast in the Gulf of Oman and was wondering if in wetter periods in the past (e.g. Holocene wet period) the wadis in flash flood (or permanently) would reach the ocean and leave a signal in the sediment?
Thank you for your help, your website has been most helpful as an introduction to the area.
Answer:
Wadi bani Awf and Wadi Sahtan lie south of the Nakhl-Rustaq road, but still drain northwards from the Al Hajar mountains towards the Gulf of Oman. They join to become Wadi bani Ghafir which in turn drains into Wadi Hawqayn.
Both Wadi bani Ghafir and Wadi bani Kharus might be called perennial wadis in places in years of plentiful rainfall, but instead of surface water draining to the sea, the water infiltrates into shallow groundwater aquifers. These wadis drain northwards across the Batinah Plain which is 20-30 km wide in the area of study that you name and many coalesce. Extremely coarse alluvial deposits are highly characteristic of the foothills to the south of the Batinah because of the force of the water flow. Fine sediment collects in pockets where water has formed pools and then evaporated. Even near the coast, deposits may be highly pebbly and coarse.
I have seen shallow water flow in Wadi bani Ghafir in September 1994, upstream from (ie south of) the main coastal road.
Had you considered trying to obtain satellite imagery of the region following the cyclone of 6th June 2007? The coastal roads along the Batinah were inundated by flash floods racing from the mountains through all the wadis. Unfortunately, the imagery may be masked by cloud. Most of the water would have gone down by just a week later. At the time, it was possible to monitor water flow using Google Earth imagery.
Sohar experienced intensive flash flooding in severe rainfall in 1988. The waters surged down Wadi Hawasina and out to sea. Similarly, wadis in Muscat became raging torrents last year and the water certainly reached the sea.
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