Coastal evolution of the Sultanate Oman (Arabian Peninsula) - tectonic versus sea-level forcing

沿海地区是充满活力和快速变化的自然环境。有几个因素作用于不同的时间尺度，控制着它们的演变。此外，沿海地区人口密集，特别是在阿曼苏丹国，一半以上的人口居住在沿海地区。由于经济改善，阿曼的土地利用发生了重大变化，特别是在巴蒂纳和马斯喀特地区。在给定的自然边界条件下，不同用户群体的不同利益发生冲突。持续不断的全球气候变暖将导致局势进一步加剧。总的来说，环境与可持续经济发展之间有着密切的联系。本文建议的沿海地区地质研究产生科学信息，形成综合海岸带管理系统的基础，使社会福利得以可持续发展。海岸演变是几个强迫因素的函数，例如：不同的陆地运动，这反过来又是构造应力场中局部变化的影响；气候和沉积物的可用性。我们计划通过分析第四纪海岸沉积物和地貌特征(如阶地、凹槽)作为档案和指标来量化各种强迫因素。这项建议侧重于揭示海岸带内的长期和短期变化。长期变化可以通过海岸线相对海平面发展的重建和比较来描述。沿海的短期变化往往与自然灾害有关。众所周知，热带气旋和海啸过去曾影响阿曼S的海岸线。通过分析地质档案，将揭示有关复发间隔和潜在损害的信息，从而能够评估风险和估计脆弱性。这项工作将在沿海不同地区进行，这些地区已被确定为关键地点。建议采用沉积岩心和探地雷达(GPR)测量来分析第四纪海岸沉积物；将使用陆地光探测和雷达(T-LIDAR)技术来分析地貌特征(例如阶地、凹槽)。拟议的研究将由B.SC和M.Sc.学生们。

Coastal areas are dynamic and fast changing natural environments. Several factors, acting on different time scales control their evolution. Furthermore, coastal areas are densely populated, especially in the Sultanate of Oman where more than half of the population is living at the coast. Due to economic improvements Oman experiences substantial changes in land utilization, particularly In Al Batinah and Muscat regions. With the given natural boundary conditions different interests of various user groups are in conflict. Ongoing global climate warming will result in further intensification of the situation. In general there is a close link between the environment and sustainable economical development. Geological research in coastal areas as proposed here, yields scientific information to form the base of an integrated coastal zone management system, enabling the sustainable development for the welfare of the society.Coastal evolution is a function of several forcing factors e.g.: differential land movement which in turn is an effect of local variations in the tectonic stress field; climate and sediment availability. We plan to quantify the various forcing factors by analysing Quaternary coastal sediments and geomorphologic features (e.g. terraces, notches) as archives and indicators. This proposal focuses on revealing long-term and short term changes within the coastal zone. Long-term changes can be described by the reconstruction and comparison of the relative sea-level development along the coastline. Short-term coastal changes are often related to natural hazards. Tropical cyclones as well as tsunamis are known to have affected Oman s coastline in the past. By analysing geological archives information regarding recurrence intervals and potential damages will be revealed which allows assessing the risk and estimating the vulnerability. This will be done for different areas along the coast which have been identified as key-locations. Sediment cores and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) surveys are proposed to analyse Quaternary coastal sediments; terrestrial Light Detection and Radar (T-LIDAR) techniques will be used to analyse geomorphologic features (e.g. terraces, notches).The proposed study will be carried out by a research team involving B.Sc. and M.Sc. students.