The Jebel Hafit sea - 30 million years ago

Jebel Hafit rocks are of lower Eocene to middle Oligocene age - 50 to 30 million years old.

The Tethys seaway stretched across this part of the Emirates linking the Indian Ocean with the Mediterranean and the sea covered most of northern Africa, Jordan, Syria and Iraq. At this time most of the northern Emirates, Dubai and the Hajar Mountains were an island and marine life flourished in the shallow tropical Tethyan sea around shoals and in lagoons.

Microscopic animals make up the bulk of the marine fossils to be found at Jebel Hafit. These fossils are important to oil exploration as their presence in various time horizons in a bore hole core can tell the oil geologist the age of the rocks in which they are found. Distribution across the Middle East of one such microfossil found at Jebel Hafit, Nummulites , is important to the oil industry as the Asmari Limestone in which Nummulites species are found, is a key geological horizon.