Geology of the Mezaira’a 1:100 000 map sheet, 100-22/23, United Arab Emirates

This Sheet Description describes the Quaternary geology of the Mezaira’a 1:100 000 scale geological map. About 180 observation points were made throughout the district. The Mezaira’a district covers 4000 km2 of the country south of Madinet Zayed, including the central part of the Liwa crescent oasis and extends to the UAE-Saudi Arabia border in the south. There are no pre-Quaternary bedrock exposures in the district. The area is underlain by the Quaternary (Pleistocene) sediments of the Madinet Zayed Formation, one outcrop of the Ghayathi Formation and a variety of modern, loose active aeolian sand deposits (Rub al Khali Formation) in different geomorphological forms (barchans, sand sheets, low dunes). The central part of the Liwa mega-barchan field, with numerous interdune sabkha pans, takes up the southern half of the sheet. The area has no economic mineral deposits, apart from the oilfields, such as the Shah field in the south.