The Gulf: Facies Belts, Physical, Chemical, and Biological Parameters of Sedimentation on a Carbonate Ramp

The Holocene of The Gulf, also referred to as the Arabian or Persian Gulf, is frequently cited as a classic example of a mixed carbonate-siliciclastic ramp system for an arid climate. This notion of a ramp is supported by the recognition that The Gulf area has a dominant shallow water carbonate/evaporite basin fill from the Permian to today despite a complex tectonic history (Alsharhan and Kendall 2003). The current depositional setting is that of a proximal foreland ramp (Burchette and Wright 1992; Evans 1995; Kirkham 1998). Walkden and Williams (1998), however, argue that since The Gulf has been above sea level for over much of the past 2.5 Ma, and since it is in tectonic, eustatic and depositional disequilibrium it should not be considered a ramp. Despite this controversy, the Holocene sedimentary fill of the current Gulf has been and will continue to be used as a model for a carbonate ramp. This interest in the area is hightened by the fact that is one of the few places in which Holocene dolomite and evaporites form.