Coastal evolution of the Sultanate Oman (Arabian Peninsula) - tectonic versus sea-level forcing

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Klaus Reicherter
• Subject Area: Palaeontology
• Term: from 2010 to 2011
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 170588064

• Final Report Year: 2014

Final Report Abstract

The aim of this preliminary study was to identify sedimentological as well as geomorphological evidence along the coastline of Oman, which can be used to reveal the Quaternary coastal evolution and the associated neotectonic movements. This aim was successfully achieved. We see a great potential to reliably constrain the chronology of the raised marine terraces using OSL. Furthermore, we proved the existence of paleotsunami. Further investigations of these deposits will reveal recurrence intervals and allow modelling the run-up of potential future tsunamis. This data will be of utmost importance for the tsunami early warning system, which is currently being set up by the UNESCO. The research had an excessive media feedback within Oman (see nug.rwth-aachen.de for some media feedback).

Publications

• (2013) Block and boulder accumulations along the coastline between Fins and Sur (Sultanate of Oman): tsunamigenic remains? Natural Hazards 65: 851-873
  Hoffmann, G., Reicherter , K., Wiatr, T., Grützner, C., Rausch, T.
  (See online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-012-0399-7)
• (2013) Review of the longterm coastal evolution of Oman - subsidence versus uplift. Zeltschrift der deutschen Gesellschaft für Geowissenschaften 164 (2): 237-252
  Hoffmann, G., Rupprechter, M. & Mayerhofer , C.
  (See online at https://doi.org/10.1127/1860-1804/2013/0002)
• (2013) The Impact of the 1945 Makran tsunami along the coastlines of the Arabian Sea (Northern Indian Ocean) - a review. Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie 57, Suppl 4, 257-277
  Hoffmann, G., Rupprechter, M., Al Balushi, N., Grützner, C. & Reicherter, K.
  (See online at https://doi.org/10.1127/0372-8854/2013/S-00134)
• Ground penetrating radar facies of inferred tsunami deposits on the shores of the Arabian Sea (Northern Indian Ocean). Marine Geology 351:13-34
  Koster, B., Hoffmann, G., Grützner, C. & Reicherter , K.
  (See online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2014.03.002)