Learn · Module B
From ice ages to an ocean floor thrust onto Arabia — watch the story unfold, then run the processes that made the rocks.
Oman’s geological history
Step through 9 chapters, from ice ages to rocks still forming today. Each scene is a simplified cross-section — not to scale.
Chapter 1 · Cryogenian · about 720–635 Ma
Glaciers left glacial deposits that are preserved in Oman, including in the Jabal Akhdar area, where two glacial episodes are recorded around 740–700 and 650–630 million years ago. They are part of the evidence for the global “Snowball Earth” ice ages.
Rocks from this chapter
Chapter 2 · Ediacaran · about 635–539 Ma
In warm shallow seas, mats of microbes trapped sediment layer by layer, building stromatolites that occur in Oman’s Neoproterozoic carbonate rocks.
Rocks from this chapter
Chapter 3 · Permian to Cretaceous
For a long span from the Permian to the Cretaceous, the edge of Arabia lay under shallow seas where thick limestones accumulated. Known as the Hajar Supergroup, these fossil-bearing limestones now form much of Jabal Akhdar.
Rocks from this chapter
Chapter 4 · Late Cretaceous · about 96–95 Ma
Magma rising at an oceanic spreading centre created the crust and mantle section now called the Samail (Semail) ophiolite. Zircon crystals in its gabbros have been dated to about 96–95 million years ago.
Rocks from this chapter
Chapter 5 · Late Cretaceous · from about 95 Ma
Soon after it formed, the slab of ocean floor was thrust (obducted) onto the edge of the Arabian continent. Rocks at its base — the metamorphic sole — formed at about the same time as its crust.
Rocks from this chapter
Chapter 6 · Late Cretaceous · about 80 Ma
Part of the Arabian continental margin was carried to great depth and transformed into high-pressure rocks, such as the eclogites near As Sifah, before returning to the surface — strongly folded on the way.
Rocks from this chapter
Chapter 7 · Paleogene · 66–23 Ma
After the ophiolite was emplaced, shallow seas again covered parts of northern Oman and deposited younger, fossil-rich limestones, seen today around Muscat.
Rocks from this chapter
Chapter 8 · Cenozoic to today
Later uplift and folding shaped the Oman Mountains, including the great dome of Jabal Akhdar, while erosion carved deep wadis and canyons. Field guides of the Geological Society of Oman relate this mountain building to the collision of Arabia with Eurasia from about the Oligocene–Miocene onwards; the exact timing is still studied by geologists.
Chapter 9 · Today
Where groundwater reacts with mantle peridotite, new carbonate minerals and travertine are still forming — a natural process studied for capturing carbon dioxide.
Rocks from this chapter
Processes and simulations
Every simulation here is a Simplified model: it shows the idea, not real rates, depths or sizes.
The rock cycle · 1 of 5 stages visited
Molten rock below the surface (lava when it erupts).
What happens next?
Rock made of crystals that grew as magma or lava cooled.
What happens next?
Loose grains, shells and mud carried by water, wind or ice and laid down in layers.
What happens next?
Sediment pressed and cemented into rock, or minerals settled from water.
What happens next?
Rock changed by heat and pressure while staying solid.
What happens next?
Your path
Simplified model Cooling speed and crystal size
Simplified model Heat and pressure
Watch mineral grains line up as a rock is metamorphosed.
Simplified model Deep burial
Follow a rock carried down a subduction zone until garnet grows.
Simplified model Folding
Shear flat layers until they form a tube-shaped sheath fold.
Scientific illustration Folded strata. Concept sketch of thin beds squeezed into folds. A sheath fold is a more intensely sheared, tube-shaped fold (see the slider).
Scientific illustration Faults. Concept sketch of normal and reverse faults and thrusts.
Scientific illustration Metamorphism. Concept sketch: heat and pressure change a rock without melting it, lining its minerals up.
Scientific illustration Wadi and canyon. Concept sketch of a wadi cut into layered rock by flash floods.
Scientific illustration Sand dune. Concept sketch of how wind builds a dune: a gentle windward slope and a steep slip face.
Simplified geological model Saiq Plateau rock column. Simplified column: glacial and carbonate Precambrian rocks, the angular unconformity, then Permian and Triassic limestones and young travertine.
Connect to the field
Seven stops from Oman’s stratigraphy to the Sifah eclogite
Take the virtual field tripFive stops from Coral Park to the cultural hike in Al Ain village
Take the virtual field tripLearn in the field
Classroom preparation, a guided field trip and follow-up activities for your students.
Book School Geology Programbooking enquiry via WhatsApp (opens WhatsApp in a new tab)Seven stops from the ophiolite to the Sifah eclogite.
Book Muscat Geology Tourbooking enquiry via WhatsApp (opens WhatsApp in a new tab)Five stops from Coral Park to the cultural hike in Al Ain village.
Book Jabal Akhdar Geology Tourbooking enquiry via WhatsApp (opens WhatsApp in a new tab)Field description, structures and the published literature, in Oman’s mountains.
Request University Field Experiencebooking enquiry via WhatsApp (opens WhatsApp in a new tab)A WhatsApp message is an enquiry, not a confirmed booking. Our team will reply to confirm availability, details and the programme. Experiences depend on sky and weather conditions.
