[Oman-L] Re: Oman-L digest, Vol 1 #406 - 2 msgs

[Alan Knell]

Jebel Akhdar translates as Green Mountain.  It appears to be the name for the 
south-eastern part of the Jebel Hajar, or Rocky Mountain - a ridge some 250 
km long, running in a gentle crescent west, north-west, and then north from 
the Sumail Gap, and merging into the lower ridge of Musandam.  From a 
distance the mountain looks grey, speckled with greener shrubby vegetation.  
It is green only by comparison with the chocolate brown ophiolite hills which 
surround it.
To the south and east the grey strata dip at angles ranging from gentle to 
near vertical.  Motor routes onto the Jebel are from the south, where the 
slopes are easiest.  These slopes are cut by the most spectacular canyons 
[wadis in Arabic] in 'Oman - W. Tanuf and W. Nakhr especially.
To the north the ridge exposes dramatic cliffs dropping into a series of bowls 
- the Ghubra Bowl, W. Bani Awf, and W.Sahtin.
The geology was explained to me as the consequence of heavy iron-rich 
ophiolite rocks deposited on lighter older strata, especially the mass east 
of Sumail.  The ophiolite is slowly sinking back to the mantle whence it 
came, and tipping the shelf of older strata to form J. Akhdar as it goes.  
The cliffs occurr where the shelf has fractured.

Jebel Shams [Sun Mountain] is the highest point of the Jebel Akhdar, and 
indeed of the Jebal Hajar.  It's height is quoted as 3009 metres.  The summit 
is a restricted zone:  it carries a large radar installation.

The geology is beautifully described and illustrated in Samir Hanna's book:  A 
Field Guide to the Geology of Oman, published by The Historical Association 
of Oman. PO Box 3941, Ruwi, Postcode 112, Sultanate of Oman.

HTH

Alan Knell