Geomorphology of the Jebel Qara and the coastal plain of Salalah (Southern Sultanate of Oman)

We present the results of the geomorphological mapping of a region of the Dhofar (southern Sultanate of Oman) that includes two contrasting physiographic units sharing a common drainage system into the Arabian Sea: the Jebel Qara limestone massif and the coastal plain of Salalah. Neogene to Quaternary tectonic activity controlled the formation of an extensive system of faults and caused the uplift of the Jebel Qara, forming structural escarpments. The massif underwent deep and surface karstification and subsequent linear erosion. Today the Jebel is cut by a dendritic net of dry valleys, occasionally dammed by large deposits of calcareous tufa. The transition between the southern escarpment of the Jebel and the plain below displays flat alluvial fans, bordered by a strip of beachrock and coastal dunes that host coastal lagoons, often in correspondence to the main estuaries. Dramatic soil erosion is evident, and we link it to intense human-triggered zoogeomorphological processes started in the Mid-Late Holocene after the appearance of pastoral land-use in the region.