Exploration of the Oman–UAE Mountains

Abstract

Despite being located along the eastern margin of Arabia where the Indian Ocean passes into the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Gulf, Oman was one of the most remote and inaccessible parts of Arabia before the rush of development following the discovery of oil. A mountain chain more than 700 km long stretches from the Musandam peninsula and the Straits of Hormuz in the north to the eastern tip of Arabia near Ras al-Hadd. A narrow coastal plain, the fertile Batinah coast separates the mountains from the Gulf in northern Oman, and east of Muscat the mountains descend directly into the ocean. Oman has a rich sea-faring tradition because it is located in a critical position along the East African trading routes from the spice islands of Zanzibar and Pemba, the rich Malabar coast of India and the barren Makran coast of southern Baluchistan. It also controls the gateway to the Arabian (Persian) Gulf through the Straits of Hormuz between Musandam and the Iranian coast to the north. The seas off Oman teem with fish, attracted by the upwelling of plankton-rich currents along the western side of the Indian Ocean. Omani traders used the monsoon winds to sail large ocean-going dhows south to East Africa using the southwest directed winter winds and Somali current, returning along the western Malabar coast of India with the northeast blowing summer monsoon winds, trading with Africa, India and all points east to the Indonesian islands and beyond.