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00:04:14We have a group of
00:04:30Amer, tell us more about this tree. These are one of the famous trees in Dhofar Governorate
00:04:34that grow on the mountain slopes. Of course, it is called the Dragon Tree
00:04:38or the Arabian Dragon Tree. It belongs to the same species or family
00:04:41as the Dragon's Blood Tree.
00:04:45behind you, you will see many We have two types of it. This one is called 'Ayr' and grows in the mountain foothills, and
00:04:48the one that grows in the plains is called
00:04:53tours the governorate, Sayr.
00:04:55sees a lot
00:05:01In recent times, we have noticed that there are many trails in Jebel
00:05:05Samhan. From your follow-up on your accounts and social
00:05:08media, what distinguishes
00:05:11what made this Jebel Samhan from the other trails? Jebel Samhan is one of the most important
00:05:15tourist destinations in Dhofar Governorate and in the Sultanate of Oman in general. You know
00:05:18that the highest peak in Dhofar Governorate is Mudun Peak in Jebel Samhan, and it has
00:05:22a compass. It is considered one of the tourist and environmental
00:05:25destinations. Jebel Samhan is distinguished
00:05:28by its diverse terrain, its towering rocky mountains, and also
00:05:32by its wildlife,
00:05:36globally. Indeed, among them, you can
00:05:39distinguish some plants threatened with extinction, and also
00:05:42some mammals threatened with extinction.
00:06:18discussion, which is the environmental duty that every person
00:06:22must have. You don't have to be an employee of the Environment
00:06:25Authority. You must have an environmental and
00:06:28national duty to preserve this heritage. This is an environmental
00:06:31legacy. If we don't preserve it, the future
00:06:35generation, how will they see these things, or how
00:06:39will we preserve these animals or this pristine environment? So,
00:08:51So, welcome, viewers. We just watched
00:08:55a report that talked about the environmental diversity,
00:08:58and certainly Dhofar is characterized by rare geology,
00:09:02comprising a large collection of terrains such as
00:09:05valleys, mountains, rocks,
00:09:09details. It is a vast science when we talk about geological
00:09:13diversity. This is a science that is studied
00:09:16extensively. We learn about the movement of the Earth's
00:09:19crust and the way it was formed millions
00:09:24we are talking about through the Sultanate of Oman
00:09:29of the areas that enjoy unique
00:09:31geological diversity, and this is perhaps what
00:09:34viewers see when they go
00:09:37to different sites here in Dhofar Governorate.
00:09:41Diversity means splendor and beauty. We will learn about
00:09:44these details from our guest, Dr. Ali bin Faraj
00:09:48Al-Kathiri, a geological expert. Welcome, Dr., to us, and thank
00:09:52you for giving us the opportunity to take a quick look
00:09:56at the geology of Dhofar Governorate, God willing, God willing.
00:09:59So, Dr., I was saying a while ago that Dhofar Governorate,
00:10:03even when a person
00:10:07of diversity: caves, many rock
00:10:11formations, the nature of the valleys,
00:10:14also the presence of formations that are not found in many places.
00:10:17You talk about perhaps Al-Mughsayl and others. So,
00:10:23geological formation amazing here in Dhofar Governorate? Was
00:10:27there a geological event that occurred in ancient
00:10:30times? That's right. If we go back to the beginning,
00:10:34we can say that Dhofar Governorate
00:10:37and parts of Yemen experienced
00:10:40a major geological activity that affected this
00:10:43region, which was the rifting
00:10:47or the formation of the Gulf of Aden and the Red
00:10:49Sea. This resulted from, about
00:10:5333 million years ago, Africa and the Arabian
00:10:56Peninsula were one piece.
00:10:59The separation began, which is called
00:11:02continental drift. We have divergence, we have
00:11:05collision. In our region
00:11:08Sea, as it appears on the screen now, we have
00:11:12divergence.
00:11:14So the Arabian Peninsula, or
00:11:18the Arabian Plate, is moving away from Africa and Somalia.
00:11:21Roughly, we can say
00:11:25that the Gulf of Aden is diverging by about 2.2
00:11:29cm, and the Red Sea by 1.6
00:11:32cm per year. Per year, yes. So,
00:11:35perhaps after a million years, it will be 22 km
00:11:38on each side, meaning 40, 40
00:11:42km. It will diverge more. And at the same
00:11:47the layers. And at that time,
00:11:51herbivorous animals and vertebrates
00:11:56on both sides.
00:11:58divergence. And
00:12:01we find
00:12:04large herbivorous animals like ancestors
00:12:07of elephants and ancestors of rhinos
00:12:11and rhinoceroses. And we can say that this event,
00:12:15which is the rifting of the Red Sea and the Gulf
00:12:18of Aden, left
00:12:22the Arabian Peninsula and on Dhofar Governorate in particular,
00:12:25in terms of terrain, in terms of terrain, and
00:12:29in terms of the exposure of rocks that were present or
00:12:33submerged under sediments were exposed on the surface in new
00:12:37sediments where these herbivorous animals appeared.
00:12:41Their fossils, God willing.
00:12:44And
00:12:46also, it shaped the current terrain of Dhofar Governorate.
00:12:50Yes. That's why, Doctor, we find a large
00:12:53collection of bones of a group of animals that are millions of years old,
00:12:57but they remain in
00:13:00rocks, limestone, and so on. That's right. It reminds
00:13:03us that they existed millions and thousands of years ago, and they remained
00:13:07existing, but now we find their bones. That's right. These
00:13:11fossils, yes. And the presence of these herbivorous animal fossils
00:13:14is evidence that these animals, or the ancestors
00:13:18of elephants, lived in this region and it was a rainy
00:13:22region. There was enough
00:13:25food for these large animals at that
00:13:28time. And over time,
00:13:31the climate changed, and so on, and they disappeared. Yes, yes, yes.
00:13:35Okay, this means, Doctor, we are also watching with
00:13:38the viewers now visual examples
00:13:42of the nature of the fossils that you find during your scientific research
00:13:46about such fossils that prove and from
00:13:49which you deduce the nature of life that existed in a certain
00:13:53time period. Let's cut from Dhofar
00:13:57in general. I was talking about
00:13:59Al-Mughsayl. Viewers can see in Al-Mughsayl
00:14:04opposite the sea.
00:14:07How were such caves formed? What is the scientific explanation for them?
00:14:11Yes, in the Al-Mughsayl
00:14:14area, there are formations called the Dhofar
00:14:17Group. Ah-ha. The Dhofar Group are the formations that
00:14:20formed during the formation of the Gulf of Aden, which are
00:14:24the Mar'anif. Generally speaking, we have
00:14:28formations there called 'Ashooq formations, Al-Mughsayl formations.
00:14:31Yes, 'Ashooq formations are older, and they
00:14:33formed during a period of peak tectonic activity at that
00:14:37time. There were earthquakes and volcanoes.
00:14:40And there were rocks, for example,
00:14:43land, but as a result of tectonic activity and the presence of some
00:14:47earthquakes, very large blocks could fall
00:14:51into the sea. Yes, and the Mar'anif rock is one of these examples.
00:14:55Indeed, if you look at the Mar'anif rock, we invite the visitor to look
00:14:59at this rock. They will find that it is different from the rocky
00:15:02layers around it. The Mar'anif rock is a
00:15:06rock mass that has no layers,
00:15:09and it was perhaps previously a coral
00:15:12reef. Yes. And it fell during the deposition
00:15:15of the Al-Mughsayl formations, which are stratified
00:15:17and chalky.
00:15:20What formed the cave in the Mar'anif
00:15:24rock is that the sea used to reach this point. The sea wave,
00:15:28we told you that there is rifting and uplift
00:15:31as a result of tectonic activity, so the sea
00:15:34would hit this rock or this rock mass
00:15:38and form the cave. The cave is now located
00:15:42under the rock. Yes. We also have
00:15:45these fountains.
00:15:48These fountains date back to newer rocks, newer than what
00:15:52formed in the Mar'anif rock. Many people
00:15:57below and emerges as
00:15:59fountains. This is because these rocks are
00:16:03a petrified beach. Therefore, the rocks are not
00:16:06rocks in this area,
00:16:09especially this place, and there are passages for some animals that
00:16:13live in the sand and make passages for them. Yes. And if
00:16:16you look closely, you will find some horizontal passages and
00:16:19some vertical ones. This facilitates
00:16:22the movement of water through these passages left by
00:16:25these creatures that lived at that time,
00:16:29and then the water flows out through them in the form of fountains.
00:16:32Yes, Doctor, these fountains that we see are perhaps also
00:16:36very famous in Dhofar Governorate in more than one
00:16:40area. So, what does geology also say about
00:16:43the water springs that are spread throughout Dhofar Governorate,
00:16:47and Mashallah, we find visitors spending a lot
00:16:51of time and taking pictures and videos, and lovers
00:16:54and explorers of these springs? What else can we say about them,
00:16:58Doctor, and what does science say about them?
00:17:01The main springs in Dhofar Governorate, we have groups of springs, but
00:17:05the main springs that I encourage viewers to search for
00:17:09some of the things I will mention now are Ain Jarziz, Ain
00:17:13Arzat, and Ain Sahnoot. They have some evidence. This
00:17:16evidence indicates that Dhofar Governorate went through very rainy
00:17:19periods, and these valleys were
00:17:23permanent lakes, not just during Khareef, but these were permanent
00:17:27lakes, and trees grew on their banks.
00:17:30And in these lakes, limestone
00:17:33was deposited from fresh water. It forms in fresh water.
00:17:37Generally, limestone is deposited in the sea, but
00:17:41there is also limestone that is deposited in fresh water, called travertine.
00:17:44Travertine differs from marine limestone
00:17:48in terms of formation. This one is very porous,
00:17:51and also the type of fossils you find in it.
00:17:55For example, if we look at this, this is a travertine rock in the Wadi
00:17:58Jarziz area, Doctor. Is this the most famous rock in Dhofar,
00:18:02which is limestone? It is present in such
00:18:06layers that we have seen. Yes, this is what is found at the
00:18:09water springs that were deposited as a result
00:18:13of the presence of freshwater lakes. However, the limestone around us in this area
00:18:16was deposited in the sea, and these are
00:18:19different environmental
00:18:22the evidence that about 1000 years
00:18:25ago, lakes filled these valleys. The valleys of
00:18:29Jarziz, Sahnoot, and Arzak were stable
00:18:32lakes. Of course, it is difficult now to imagine that this place was covered
00:18:36by seawater, but Subhanallah (Glory be to God), geology changes,
00:18:39and this is what is also exciting in geology,
00:18:42Doctor. Yes, and also evidence of this
00:18:46presence is that these are freshwater sediments. What is our evidence? Someone might say, "Oh
00:18:50Ali, you're talking about these being freshwater sediments."
00:18:54So we have evidence in these travertine rocks. We find
00:18:57imprinted tree leaves. Tree
00:19:00leaves left a mold of a tree leaf like
00:19:02this, imprinted on these sediments, and you will find them in
00:19:06Jarziz and Sah. And Arzat. If you get
00:19:09close and search, you will find large quantities of them. So, in this
00:19:13way, they fall into the lake,
00:19:17and then the leaf itself disappears,
00:19:20and the mold remains. Therefore, we find tree
00:19:24trunks. Tree trunks fall into these lakes, and they are surrounded
00:19:26by and fossilized, and then the cellulose
00:19:30dissolves, and its place remains.
00:19:33And this is one of the examples that you see in perhaps this is Jarziz,
00:19:37meaning the cellulose or the
00:19:40wood itself disappears over time, and the mold remains, and the mold
00:19:44remains. This is our evidence that these sediments at the water
00:19:48springs are freshwater sediments and not seawater
00:19:51sediments, and they are newer in age. The oldest age for these
00:19:55sediments is
00:19:57from 9,000 years to 10,000 years to 2 million years. Mashallah,
00:20:01Mashallah, yes, yes. Okay,
00:20:04the geological formations present
00:20:07in the station or the Al-Houta area here in Dhofar
00:20:11Governorate. Tell us about what distinguishes this
00:20:14area. We also have a rock formation present
00:20:18in the Al-Houta area and in Ain Sarit,
00:20:21which is north of Raysut. Umm, even the
00:20:25geological name is Al-Houta Ain Sarit.
00:20:29Its name is a sandstone. Yes, sandstone.
00:20:33And this rock was formed
00:20:36a very long time ago. Its age is about,
00:20:40we can say, 500 million years, approximately. It was deposited in
00:20:44seawater or fresh water, because no fossils have been found
00:20:47yet. Then, as a result
00:20:50of tectonic activity and Earth's movement, it tilted.
00:20:53It tilted and was submerged
00:20:56by the sea, and marine sediments
00:21:01marine sediments were deposited on it. So,
00:21:04in some rocks,
00:21:06their layers
00:21:09are not tilted, and the Al-Houta rocks have a tilt. Whoever visits
00:21:12the Al-Houta area will notice that the black rocks have a tilt.
00:21:17in geology an angular unconformity.
00:21:21There is a difference in age. The marine sedimentary
00:21:24rocks, or the limestone, are about
00:21:27125 million years old, and it is 500
00:21:31million years old. In 300, we find a layer that is different in color from the other
00:21:34layer. There is a tilt in the old
00:21:37rocks. They were horizontal.
00:21:41They were subjected to Earth's
00:21:45the sea. The sea deposited on them, and we had an angular
00:21:48unconformity. Yes. Yes, this is exactly
00:21:51what we see, Doctor, as viewers, that over
00:21:55time, as Doctor mentioned, the movement of the Earth's
00:21:59crust and erosion factors contributed to the uplift of mountains and the carving of
00:22:02valleys and slopes. This particular shot, Doctor,
00:22:05we notice a fault here. This is a fault or
00:22:11this part on the left. It will separate
00:22:14it because, in essence, this
00:22:17is a fault or a geological crack. And always, if you see
00:22:20valleys or rocky slopes, there is usually
00:22:24a ground crack or a fault behind them. One of these faults is what
00:22:29rocks. Yes, yes. Doctor, how can
00:22:34diversity in tourism, especially during seasons like the Dhofar
00:22:38Khareef, this amazing geological
00:22:41the governorate? Indeed, there are many sites that can
00:22:44be visited in Dhofar Governorate, especially for tourism.
00:22:48For example, tourists can look for these things in the fresh water that
00:22:51we talked about.
00:22:54The car goes to the mountain area or
00:22:57Al-Mughsayl to look at this, and now they understand
00:23:01how this Al-Mughsayl is present and try to see the chalky
00:23:04white layers around Al-Mughsayl rock,
00:23:08and perhaps if you touch
00:23:11the rocks with the fountains, you will know that this is sand. You will notice that this
00:23:15is sand similar to beach sand now, but solidified sedimentary
00:23:18rocks. We also have in some desert
00:23:22areas, we have geodes, geodes or crystalline
00:23:26rocks, and we also have in Dhofar, if we move,
00:23:30wind deposits, which are the star dunes.
00:23:33We have the highest star
00:23:35dune, the highest star dune above sea
00:23:39level in the world. We have
00:23:42a very beautiful site in rocks,
00:23:45the basement rocks or what we call the
00:23:48Arabian Shield rocks. These are found in
00:23:52Dhofar from Mirbat to Hasik, and they are found
00:23:55here, and they are found in Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Somalia,
00:23:59and parts of Egypt, yes, and Sudan.
00:24:02Everything was deposited on it, but there is a very
00:24:06beautiful site that I encourage people to visit, which is the Laja
00:24:08Shiun site. Ah-ha. A mass of vibrant red
00:24:12granite, and behind it is the peak of Jebel Samhan
00:24:15and a spring that flows from this
00:24:19fault. Between the sedimentary rock, this
00:24:22is the picture. This is a very beautiful site. Even this red
00:24:26mass has frankincense trees growing on it. It has frankincense trees
00:24:29very densely. The mountain in the back is Jebel
00:24:33Samhan, and it is a sedimentary rock. This rock
00:24:36was deposited, it is about 55 million years old. Ah-ha. And this
00:24:39is more than 800 million years old. What is the explanation for the colors,
00:24:42Doctor? This is due to the diversity of rocks.
00:24:46Ah-ha. This red is granite, a granite mass.
00:24:50We have two types of igneous rocks: volcanic,
00:24:53which cools on the surface,
00:24:56the depths, and granite is one
00:24:58of the plutonic rocks here.
00:25:04dikes. Granite cuts the surrounding
00:25:07basement rocks.
00:25:09the right
00:25:12is a basaltic dike that cuts
00:25:15ages. Mashallah, a masterpiece. A masterpiece of ages. Every layer
00:25:19has its own. If you look closely, there is a
00:25:22crack or a vein that cuts
00:25:25the red rock, and so on. This is one of the things. From this masterpiece, you can give
00:25:29a group of different ages proportionally.
00:25:33One after the other. Subhanallah. Doctor, also, Dhofar
00:25:36Governorate is famous for the presence of meteorites
00:25:40and its stones that form as if they were
00:25:42crystals. This is a new information for me. I was
00:25:46talking to Khalid before the beginning of the program that, Mashallah,
00:25:50Dhofar Governorate and there are many areas in the Sultanate
00:25:53of Oman where meteorites are found. Tell us about
00:25:57that, Doctor. Give us a clearer picture.
00:25:59Oman is considered one of the most famous
00:26:04meteorites, not for the falling of meteorites. Yes.
00:26:06Because it's easy to search for meteorites in the desert.
00:26:10The inner desert of the Sultanate of Oman has a layer of
00:26:13limestone rocks that are light in color. Also,
00:26:16the lands have been flat for millions of years. This desert
00:26:20remained flat. So any rock,
00:26:26on the ground remains in its place. And we sometimes find
00:26:29a rock or a meteorite that is, for example, 10
00:26:32to 20,000 years old, and near it is another meteorite that is 50,000
00:26:36years old. So, whatever falls on the desert remains in its place. Yes. Whereas whatever
00:26:40falls in mountains like these would be difficult to find.
00:26:43And meteorites are rocks whose origin is
00:26:48space to Earth. Yes. Most of these rock
00:26:52masses
00:26:54are from an asteroid that did not form between Mars
00:26:57and Jupiter. So, masses from this orbit
00:27:00the Earth, and with the Earth's gravity pulling them, they fall.
00:27:04until they fall on the Earth.
00:27:07We also have some rocks from the Moon
00:27:11and Mars. Of course, Dhofar
00:27:14Governorate is one of the most famous areas where meteorites were found.
00:27:17and also the central region, yes, due to the ease of searching for them in these
00:27:21areas. We have the oldest lunar
00:27:24meteorite, which is over 200,000 years old,
00:27:27estimated from when it fell to Earth, not the age of formation.
00:27:30The age of formation is different, and the age when
00:27:34counts. And
00:27:36we have, I think, the oldest meteorite that was found
00:27:40as a fall trail
00:27:43Earth in the
00:27:46Haila Al-Raka area. Doctor, you have thus
00:27:49motivated a large group of people who love to discover
00:27:53these meteorites and these stones. How to preserve them?
00:27:57This is also a natural wealth. How to
00:28:00preserve these stones that have crystallized and fallen?
00:28:04How can we preserve
00:28:06taken. That's right. Yes,
00:28:09I participated in the Omani-Swiss
00:28:12project to search for meteorites. This started in
00:28:152001
00:28:17until now, maybe two years ago, more than 23 years.
00:28:21We are still working on this project, and honestly,
00:28:24in response to your words, we were in a race with
00:28:28meteorite hunters. And we
00:28:30find the largest collection kept by Omanis. Ah-ha. And there were
00:28:34meteorite hunters, meaning Oman is an open country, a peaceful country, and a very
00:28:38hospitable country. Many tourists come
00:28:41as specialists searching for meteorites,
00:28:45and they are different meteorite hunters. They enter
00:28:49with tourist visas.
00:28:51Until later, some legislation was enacted in the state, and now
00:28:55it has almost disappeared completely, though not entirely.
00:28:59This phenomenon of meteorite
00:29:02hunters coming. And now as a project
00:29:05for searching for meteorites, we have
00:29:09project, over 7,000 pieces. Mashallah. Mashallah.
00:29:12And it dates back to approximately
00:29:151,400 falls, because a piece
00:29:18is different from a fall. A meteorite in Jaddat
00:29:22al-Harasis,
00:29:24in 2000, perhaps 2006,
00:29:27we collected 3,500 pieces from it. Mashallah.
00:29:31So a meteorite falls. smaller makes an
00:29:34oval shape, larger piece from Yazak
00:29:38falls in front. The last thing, like this
00:29:40size, no, this is geodes, these
00:29:44are other crystallized rocks. Unfortunately, I don't think there's a picture of this.
00:29:48This is from Mudhi area. And Al-Mazyunah area, you find
00:29:52these crystallized rocks, and they are the ones that contain quartz, yes.
00:29:55And these are cavities where silica
00:29:58rocks accumulate, among the sedimentary
00:30:01limestone rocks, yes, yes. Great effort, Doctor, you are making
00:30:06special heritage that the Sultanate of
00:30:09Oman is known for. Of course, to conclude with you, Doctor, we were also surprised that you
00:30:13are also a resident of this area, Aseir, correct? Yes.
00:30:17So this is also a surprise for us, and surely,
00:30:21geology, the first thing you look for is the surrounding environment,
00:30:25meaning you study it and analyze it. So what distinguishes Aseir
00:30:42we call it Umm Radhuma formations. If you look
00:30:47faults, yes, and the edge of the mountain, this is the edge
00:30:51of the mountain
00:30:53around Salalah city, formed by faults, and it is
00:30:57in the shape of a semi- circular arch.