Eye-catching rock formations in Oman

Oman is a country of exceptional natural beauty, and the geological tales behind the formation of these landscapes will add to the sense of wonder: the low, rough mountains that surround the coastal cities of Muscat and Muttrah are made of rocks that were once part of the earth's crust. In the enormous dome of Jabal Akhdar you see the same sequence of thick carbonate layer from which most of the oil wealth of the Arabian Peninsula is made, and its height is more than 2000 meters. You also see shimmering green and black pods along the coast of Safa that sink to depths of 80 to 100 kilometers before ascending to the upper crust. Through the geological lens, such natural formations acquire new significance, especially if you know how important the dependence of giant stone formations is and their role in purifying the atmosphere of carbon dioxide through a process known as "carbon mineralization".

Carbon Mineralization Process

White carbonate metal veins pass through plates of dark rocks such as fat that resemble a steak. Carbonates surround gravel and pebbles, turning ordinary pebbles into natural mosaics. Even the spring water collected across the rocks reacts with carbon dioxide to produce an ice-like carbonate crust that, if broken, reshapes it in a matter of days.

Scientists say that if this natural process, called carbon mineralization, can be harnessed, accelerated and applied cheaply on a large scale – and some very large rock formations – could help combat climate change. The rocks could remove some of the billions of tons of heat-retaining carbon dioxide that humans have pumped into the air since the beginning of the industrial age.

By turning carbon dioxide into stone, rocks in Oman – or in a number of other places around the world with similar geological formations – will ensure that the gas remains trapped out of the atmosphere forever, making it one of the best natural ways to get rid of carbon dioxide, the main cause of global warming.

The most famous rock formations in Amman

Wadi Al-Meeh rocky yenat

Wadi Al Meeh is a valley in the Wilayat of Amerat in Muscat. Al Amerat is a suburb of Muscat, and the turn into Wadi Al Meeh is not so far from Al Amerat that I was really surprised by how great the drive, the landscape and the mountain are close to Muscat, the capital of Oman. The route through the Mayan Valley is just over 20 kilometres long, passing through some very stunning landscapes and rocks – and some truly unique geological features that it might be easy to drive through unless you play close attention.

I've been fortunate to see the magnificent schist rock formations, perhaps the most famous of which is a limestone called the "guide board," a 300-million-year-old limestone that seems to have been layered due to the intense pressure and heat exerted on it. Across Wadi al-Meeh was dedicated to the Jaffan al-Ain rock, a stunning 250-million-year-old limestone rock that was deformed and folded into an eye-like center shape – directly inside the mountain overlooking a village in the valley. Immediately after the "eyelid" we find a more beautiful series called "The Great Tuck", a series of folds on Mount Magau that can be seen from a distance.

Rock formations in Ibra, Sultanate of Oman

Ibra is located in a barren corner of the Arabian Peninsula, where goats and occasional camels roam and see rocks forming in every direction they look at. But the stark outcrops and rocky hills are more than just landscapes. Some of these rocks have an important role in nature, as they react naturally with carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and convert it into carbon stones by the process of "carbon mineralization".

Dr. Peter Kilman's studies of rock formations in Oman

Dr. Peter B. Kilman, a geologist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, has been studying rock formations in Oman for twenty years. Dr. Kilman first came to Oman in the nineties, where rock formations were and still are one of the best sites in the world to study what was then his field of research, the formation and structure of the earth's crust. He noticed carbonate veins but thought they must be millions of years old.

Through years of study in Oman, Dr. Clemin will conclude that the carbonaceous rocks in Oman consist mainly of a type of rock called pyridotitite, the 1st naturally formed in a slice of oceanic crust and mantle layer underneath it pushed by tectonic forces on Earth nearly 100 million years ago. The erosion resulted in an unfinished area about 200 miles long, up to 25 miles wide and several miles thick in the northern part of the sultanate, including here on the outskirts of Ibra, a dusty inland city of 50,000 people. Even the bustling capital, Muscat, on the Gulf of Oman, has a pocket of pyridotians overlooking the palace of Sultan Qaboos bin Said. Pyridotite is usually miles below the surface. Dr. Clemin said that when rocks are exposed to air or water as they are here, they resemble a giant battery with a lot of chemical potential.

Similarities between Oman's rock formations with Northern California and Albania

Dr. Kilman said rocks are so extensive that if they could somehow be fully used, they could store hundreds of years of carbon dioxide emissions. Realistically, he said, Oman could store at least one billion tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. (Current annual emissions worldwide are close to 40 billion tons.) While the profiles here are private, they are not unique. There are similar, albeit smaller, species in Northern California, Papua New Guinea and Albania, among other places, but the size of these rock formations in Oman makes them one of the most important rock formations in the world due to their ability to purify huge amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, reflecting the negative effects that resulted from the retention of this gas in the atmosphere since the beginning of the industrial renaissance in the world until now.