Geology of the Arada 1:100 000 map sheet, 100-26/27, United Arab Emirates

This Sheet Description describes the Quaternary geology of the Arada 1:100 000 scale geological map. About 260 observation points were made throughout the district. The Arada district covers 3640 km2 of the country south of Madinat Zayed, including the western part of the Liwa crescent oasis, and extends to the UAE-Saudi Arabia border in the south. No pre-Quaternary bedrock exposures have been identified in the district. The area is underlain by the Quaternary (Pleistocene) fluvial-aeolian sediments of the Madinat Zayed Formation, one outcrop of the aeolian Ghayathi Formation and a variety of modern active aeolian sand deposits (Rub al Khali Formation) in different morphological forms (barchans, mega-barchans, sand sheets, low dunes). The western end of the Liwa mega-barchan field, with numerous interdune sabkha pans, occurs in the SE corner of the sheet. The area has no known surface economic mineral deposits.