How are Sabkhas formed?
If the features silt up, or the land rises, or the sea level falls, then the trapped water evaporates, leaving a flat salt pan, or sabkha. If the coastal region has irregular topography, then the flooding creates large independent creeks, or khors.
What is sabkha soil and how it is formed?
Sabkha soils are salt-bearing formations that are formed in arid regions. In their in situ states the sabkha soils have high compressibility and low shear strength. These soils are also heterogeneous and their properties depend on the type and amount of salt present.
What is sabkha deposit?
‘Sabkhas’ are low-relief flats in which accumulation occurs wholly or partly as a result of evaporite precipitation (and in some cases carbonate sedimentation).
Where are evaporites found?
Modern evaporites are limited to arid regions (those of high temperature and low rates of precipitation), for example, on the floors of semidry ephemeral playa lakes in the Great Basin of Nevada and California, across the coastal salt flats (sabkhas) of the Middle East, and in salt pans, estuaries, and lagoons around …
What are sabkha soils?
Muddy sabkha soil is a kind of lagoon sediment mainly consisting of sandy carbonate mud. According to their locations, sabkha soils are mainly found in coastal and inland (continental) areas (Juillie and Sherwood, 1983). Sabkha soils are commonly observed in Saudi Arabia, both in coastal and inland regions.
What is a Sabkha environment?
1. n. [Geology] An environment of coastal sedimentation characterized by arid or semiarid conditions above the level of high tide and by the absence of vegetation. Evaporites, eolian deposits and tidal-flood deposits are common in sabkhas.
How evaporites are formed?
Evaporites are layered crystalline sedimentary rocks that form from brines generated in areas where the amount of water lost by evaporation exceeds the total amount of water from rainfall and influx via rivers and streams.
What is evaporite used for?
Evaporite minerals, especially nitrate minerals, are economically important in Peru and Chile. Nitrate minerals are often mined for use in the production on fertilizer and explosives.