The Hajar Mountains

The Hajar Mountains parallel the east coast of the UAE. At their highest point in the north, in the Musandam Peninsula, they reach a height of 2000 metres. There the mountain slopes drop directly into the sea. This area is known locally as the Ru'us Al-Jibal , literally the 'heads of the mountains.' The Ru'us Al-Jibal exposes the thick sequence of Mesozoic carbonates of the Arabian Platform which correlates with the principal oil bearing strata that lie deeply buried to the west.

To the south of the Ru'us Al-Jibal the Hajar Mountains consist of a complex of igneous and sedimentary rocks which represent the upper mantle, oceanic crust and deep ocean sediments of the ocean that once lay to the north-east. The igneous rocks of the mantle and oceanic crust are collectively called ophiolites . The ophiolites of the UAE now lie above the rocks of the Arabian Platform The Hajar Mountains constitute the world's most extensive surface exposure of ophiolites. For this reason they are of tremendous interest to geologists.