Salt domes of the United Arab Emirates: evidence for late Neoproterozoic sedimentation and rift volcanism in the northern Arabian-Nubian Shield

Seven of the nine emergent salt domes of the UAE have been examined. They outcrop on the Arabian Gulf islands of Delma, Sir Bani Yas, Arzana, Qarnain, Zirku and Sir Bu N’Air, with one on-land salt dome at Jebal Dhanna. The salt domes range from about 1 km across (incomplete remnant of Qarnain) to over 6 km diameter (Delma) and form dissected hilly topography rising to about 140 m above sea-level (Zirku). The majority of the salt domes are single intrusions but two, Delma and Jebal Dhanna, appear to have multiple phases. The diapirs were emplaced penecontemporaneously with the Miocene country rocks, while evidence of recent localised halokinetic reactivation in small dome-like “salt blisters” is seen on a number of salt islands.