A PDO tribute on National Day
MUSCAT -- To mark the 36th National Day and the national effort in making Muscat the Capital of Arab Culture 2006, PDO has published a new edition of Oman's Geological Heritage, which is dedicated to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos. For geologists, Oman is a fascinating country with highly unusual geological elements. "Oman", says Dr Ken Glennie who led the team of geologists providing information for the new edition "displays the wonders of geology better than almost any other country in the world".
The launch of the much revised and modernised edition took place yesterday under the auspices of Sultan bin Hamdoon al Harthy, Under-Secretary, Ministry of Heritage and Culture, and John Malcolm, PDO's Managing Director. The book is published by Stacey International. Geologists can now trace back the development of rock formations some 800 million years and according to Dr Glennie, who was the leader of the team, which first mapped the Hajar Mountains from 1966 to 1968, geological work done in Oman has changed the views of scientists about a major adjustment that took place almost 60 million years ago.
Dr Glennie explains "As an arid land, Oman displays the wonders of geology better than almost any other country in the world. Oman has several geological highlights that have enabled us to better understand the earth's history. In the first rank is the dating of the boundary between the Proterzoic and Plaeozoic eras to 542 million years ago a major adjustment of almost 60 million years that is now generally accepted".
"Another example is provided by a rock sample obtained from PDO's Ghaba 1 well that contained evidence of the world's first known land plants, which lived about 475 million years ago also about 60 million years older than previously thought. And there is no better visual aid than that great mass of rock, the Samail Nappe, to show us how oceanic crust is formed."
Minister of Oil and Gas, Dr Mohammed bin Hamad al Rumhy, who is also Chairman of PDO, writes in a foreword to the book "This revised edition of Oman's Geological Heritage reinforces the foundation of knowledge on which our noble endeavour to develop this great nation of ours is based. For the foreseeable future, as His Majesty has stated, we will have to continue to draw on our country's national resources namely the crude oil and natural gas found in underground rock formations, to secure the welfare of subsequent generations of Omanis.
By Maurice Gent
© Oman Daily Observer 2006
