Qatar is a limestone and dolomite peninsula of flat and rocky surfaces and extreme desert conditions. It has a major oil field on the west side. The Qatar landscape is a wide and flat expanse. The coasts are generally low, with marine terraces and with sabkhas in several places. Major sand dunes are situated in the southeastern part and limestone hills, some which reach an altitude of 40m (130 feet) are in the western and northern parts of the country. The Sand Dunes have moved progressively southward, under the effects of the prevailing wind.
It is easy to travel away from the city and see the natural environment. Most of it is quiet, uncultivated and scenically attractive. Qatar is characterized by a number of geographical features that are peculiar to the western side of the Arabian Gulf. These include rainwater-draining basins found mainly in the north and central areas of the country that are considered the most fertile and have attracted heavy agricultural investment.
The geo features of Qatar include Salt flats, Dunes, mangroves, caves and limestone rocks.
Wetlands of Qatar
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The wetlands in Qatar are mostly marine and coastal. Coral reefs are low density and shallow but developed well along the east coast.
Ministerial Decree No.78 of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture declared Khor al-Udaid, a deep inlet from the sea on the southeast coast, a water sanctuary in November 1993. Under this status, all commercial fishing is banned.
Khor al Udaid
Located near the Saudi Arabia border to the southeast of Qatar, Khor al-Udaid is a large sea bay of great relevance to the sea mammals like sea turtles, waterfowl, and sea birds. Large areas of sabkha lie adjacent to the shoreline.
This area is an important breeding ground for dolphins. Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus ruber also gather here during winters along with other water birds, like - Great Cormmorant Phalacrocorax carbo, Socotra Cormorant P. nigrogularis, shorebirds, gulls and terns.
Messaied Sewage Pond
Formed by earth embankments and filled with post-treatment sewage effluent from an adjacent sewage treatment plant. It has a tall fringe of Phragmites reeds.
Few species of ducks (Anatidae ) including waterfowl, Moorhen Gallinula chloropus and Little Grebe come here during migration season in winter.
Salwa Road Ponds
Salwa road ponds are a group of shallow freshwater pools in the desert southwest of Doha. There are extensive grass areas especially around the pool with some patches of reeds Phragmites australis (communis). This water has been diverted for irrigation purposes since 1991, reducing it greatly in size.
Al Aliyah Island
Located 13km north-northeast of Doha, it is a low-lying rocky island with loose surface consisting of weathered limestone rock. There are uneven patches of salt tolerant bushes. Surveys have found that it is a breeding haven of Western Reef Egret (Egretta gularis), Lesser Crested Tern (Sterna bengalensis), White-cheeked Tern S. repressa and Bridled Tern S. anaethetus. It is also an abode of a small number of 17 other species of shorebirds, gulls, and terns.
Al Thakira Mangrove
7 km North of Al Khor, Al Thakira Mangrove is a group of saltwater bays with dense mangrove growth, broad mudflats and salt marsh vegetation.
It has valuable fish and shrimp stocks, and is also an important destination for the wintering and passage water birds like ducks and Greater Flamingos.
(Courtesy: A directory of Wetlands in the Middle East compiled by Derek A Scott, World Conservation Union 1995 and www.catnaps.org )
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Sabkha
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Sabkha is an arabic name for a salt-flat. They are flat and very saline areas of sand or silt lying just above the water-table and often containing soft nodules and veins of gypsum or anhydrite.
They appear to be ideal for driving over being, in the main, wide and flat, but their appearance is deceptive. They are composed of areas of saline sand or silt, lying just above the water table and generally deposited over a long period of time by the action of wind-blown sand falling into areas of low sea. Their flatness is controlled by the humidity associated with the presence of the relatively high water table, which commonly, is about half a metre below the surface. Usually they have a crust of halite and gypsum through which it is possible for a vehicle to drop if it moves away from any established path.
(Courtesy: Courtesy “Qatar” Sabkha, Salt Lakes and Other Desert Envionments; by Ian West and www.catnaps.org )
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Duhul
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Large caves or duhul are widespread on the peninusula of Qatar They can be categorised as one of the three karstic geo features of Qatar; sinkholes, simple depressions and complex depressions.
Over a period of time a combination of groundwater and rainwater have reacted with these relatively soft surface and sub-surface rocks, dissolving gypsum and limestone. This has created underground cavities, some of which have had their ceilings collapse, exposing the interior of the duhul, or sinkhole. While many are open some have only been exposed when loaded from above. One such duhul was exposed when a bulldozer, working on the New District of Doha, broke through the surface. For this reason it is imperative that foundation work for new developments should be properly investigated.
The depressions are caused by the sinking of the surface following sub-surface collapse and, as the name implies, can be of a simple shape or, by the amalgamation of a number of simple depressions, complex. They may also be created by sinkholes being filled with sand over a period of time.
Only about 10 substantial caves are known but many have probably been filled with blown sand and many have collapsed to produce some of the thousand of depressions or dolines of northern Qatar. Pools of freshwater at the bottom of such caves were once used by Beduins for drinking water.
It is probable that many similar dolines exist in southern Qatar but that is an area of major sand dunes. The travelling dunes and interdune sabkhas of the south will cover the dolines so nothing of them is visible at the surface.
(Courtesy 1. Abdulali M. Sadiq and Sobhi J. Nasir - Middle Pleistocene karst evolution in the State of Qatar, Arabian Gulf. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies. 2."Qatar " Sabkha, Salt Lakes and Other Desert Envionments; by Ian West)
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Sand Dunes
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The dunes begin in the classic barkan form. They are driven by the shamal and have a crescent shape, their windward face being rippled by the action of the wind, their leeward face being relatively steep as it collapses under the driving wind, and the two arms moving faster than the face. In Qatar, they begin about half way down the peninsula, occuring first as scattered dunes but coalesce and increase in size, marching across the border into Saudi Arabia and into the ruba'a al khali, or Empty Quarter.
Singing Sand Dunes
There is a fascinating natural phenomenon called the Singing Sand Dunes towering nearly 100 metres above and about 40km from Doha. One of the characteristics of the sand dunes is their ability to hum under rather precise wind and moisture conditions. The humming is caused when a person sits or lies on the face of the dune and moves creating movement in the underlying sand. Apparently it’s the friction of the grains of sand on each other that create the sound, but the vibration can be felt and it can be heard as far as 10 km away, amplified by the crescent shape of the dune. |
The sand dunes are a lovely environment to travel in. Their profiles change relatively rapidly with the wind making it an exciting drive through requiring considerable skills.
(Courtesy "Qatar" Sabkha, Salt Lakes and Other Desert Envionments; by Ian West)
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Limestone Hills
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Between Dukhan, south through Umm Bab and then on towards the border with Saudi Arabia, on the west side of Qatar is an interesting plateau of Tertiary limestone standing out in the desert about twenty or thirty metres in height. Among one of the most different and accessible of Qatar geographical features you can drive right up to them around the Zekreet Area.
Pedestal Rocks
Limestone plateaus slowly disintegrating in the hot sun, and occasionally subject to flash floods running down small wadis between them create residual pedestal rocks. |
The low hills are often mushroom-shaped due to the erosion of the underlying, softer rock and form an interesting contrast to the visual character of the rest of the country. The plateau stands above a plain which is only a short distance above sea level. The plain which links to the Bay of Zekrit is sandy but without any large sand dunes. It provides a smooth surface to drive over.
(Courtesy "Qatar" Sabkha, Salt Lakes and Other Desert Envionments; by Ian West and www.catnaps.org)
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Gypsum Crystals
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Gypsum crystals formed when high tides bring seawater into the sabkha causing water to trap and evaporate leaving behind salt deposition, and eventually forming the twinned gypsum crystal, appear as two crystalline forms.
The first takes the shape of fans of needle-like gypsum sand and appear where the stronger structures are exposed as the lighter sands are moved away from them. These tend to be found in the area south of Umm Said.
The second form have the appearance of agglomerated shells and are familiarly known as "desert roses". They are found dotting the Qatar landscape in the north and east of the country. They are delicate and can be easily broken.
(Courtesy "Qatar" Sabkha, Salt Lakes and Other Desert Envionments; by Ian West and www.catnaps.org)
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Geodes
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Geodes can be found in Qatar, particularly on the west side of the country, and not in sabkha but in areas where the rain has washed them loose. They take the form of a rough stone and, when broken open, typically exhibit a hollow interior surrounded by gypsum crystals. Geodes are familiar to many all over the world, usually sawn through and polished to exhibit the cross section as a decorative artefact.
(Courtesy "Qatar" Sabkha, Salt Lakes and Other Desert Envionments; by Ian West and www.catnaps.org) |
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