Tectonics of the Musandam Peninsula and northern Oman Mountains: From ophiolite obduction to continental collision
Authors: Searle Michael P. , Cherry Alan G. , Ali Mohammed Y. , Cooper David J.W. 
Published: October 2021

The tectonics of the Musandam Peninsula in northern Oman shows a transition between the Late Cretaceous ophiolite emplacement related tectonics recorded along the Oman Mountains and Dibba Zone to the SE and the Late Cenozoic continent-continent collision tectonics along the Zagros Mountains in Iran to the northwest. Three stages in the continental collision process have been recognized. Stage one involves the emplacement of the Semail Ophiolite from NE to SW onto the Mid-Permian–Mesozoic passive continental margin of Arabia. The Semail Ophiolite shows a lower ocean ridge axis suite of gabbros, tonalites, trondhjemites and lavas (Geotimes V1 unit) dated by U-Pb zircon between 96.4–95.4 Ma overlain by a post-ridge suite including island-arc related volcanics including boninites formed between 95.4–94.7 Ma (Lasail, V2 unit). The ophiolite obduction process began at 96 Ma with subduction of Triassic–Jurassic oceanic crust to depths of &gt; 40 km to form the amphibolite/granulite facies metamorphic sole along an ENE-dipping subduction zone. U-Pb ages of partial melts in the sole amphibolites (95.6– 94.5 Ma) overlap precisely in age with the ophiolite crustal sequence, implying that subduction was occurring at the same time as the ophiolite was forming. The ophiolite, together with the underlying Haybi and Hawasina thrust sheets, were thrust southwest on top of the Permian–Mesozoic shelf carbonate sequence during the Late Cenomanian–Campanian. Subduction ended as unsubductable cherts and limestones (Oman Exotics) jammed at depths of 25–30 km. The Bani Hamid quartzites and calc-silicates associated with amphibolites derived from alkali basalt show high-temperature granulite facies mineral assemblages and represent lower crust material exhumed by late-stage out-of-sequence thrusting.

Ophiolite obduction ended at ca. 70 Ma (Maastrichtian) with deposition of shallow-marine limestones transgressing all underlying thrust sheets. Stable shallow-marine conditions followed for at least 30 million years (from 65–35 Ma) along the WSW and ENE flanks of the mountain belt. Stage two occurred during the Late Oligocene–Early Miocene when a second phase of compression occurred in Musandam as the Arabian Plate began to collide with the Iran-western Makran continental margin. The Middle Permian to Cenomanian shelf carbonates, up to 4 km thick, together with pre-Permian basement rocks were thrust westwards along the Hagab Thrust for a minimum of 15 km. Early Miocene out-of-sequence thrusts cut through the shelf carbonates and overlying Pabdeh foreland basin in the subsurface offshore Ras al Khaimah and Musandam. This phase of crustal compression followed deposition of the Eocene Dammam and Oligocene Asmari formations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), but ended by the mid-Miocene as thrust tip lines are all truncated along a regional unconformity at the base of the Upper Miocene Mishan Formation. The Oligocene–Early Miocene culmination of Musandam and late Cenozoic folding along the UAE foreland marks the initiation of the collision of Arabia with Central Iran in the Strait of Hormuz region. Stage three involved collision of Arabia and the Central Iran Plate during the Pliocene, with ca. 50 km of NE-SW shortening across the Zagros Fold Belt. Related deformation in the Musandam Peninsula is largely limited to north and eastward tilting of the peninsula to create a deeply indented coastline of drowned valleys (rias).