Oman's Geological Heritage

Book excerpt: For the geologist, amateur no less than professional, Oman holds endless fascination. Its territory presents extraordinary contrasts: the dramatic arid massifs of the northern jabal and the rolling upland pastures of Dhofar, the sand sea of Ar Rub al Khali, the vast salt pan of the Umm al Harasis, the wild beauty of its promontories and rockscapes. And mark the detail of it all - not merely the visual impact of the rock landscape but the information locked within or between the rocks - the fossils of marine life high in the mountains, or the oil deep underground, or the brilliantly elaborate crystal forms of its geodes, each of them carrying evidence of the drama of Oman's geological forming æons ago. This second edition of Oman's Geological Heritage, with its wealth of pictures and diagrams, places this absorbing and important field of knowledge within the reach of every reader.