During Quaternary time, the southern flank of the Arabian Gulf can be considered as a classic, foreland basin ramp setting in which the sedimentological processes operating changed drastically along strike. The combined effects of sea-level fluctuations and wind, which have dominated the Quaternary coastal morphology and coastal evolution, are observed at a resolution rarely achieved in the stratigraphic record of palaeoramp sequences. The facies distributions and diagenetic characteristics of the relatively thin Pleistocene-Holocene strata provide valuable insights into the complex stratigraphy that can develop within an inner ramp and its continental fringe. In the UAE, Pleistocene sediments comprising mainly aeolian dunes overlie a deeply eroded topography of Upper Miocene strata. These sediments become increasingly carbonate rich and calcite cemented northwards towards the coast. Here they experienced severe aeolian deflation due to the later marine flooding of the aeolian sources on the formerly exposed areas lower down the ramp profile, and wind erosion along the coastal area because of a lack of sediment supply. The antecedent topography of Miocene and Pleistocene escarpments, mesas, islands, cemented seif dunes and coastal deflationary ‘Stokes surfaces’ provided a highly varied Holocene ramp margin undergoing coastal progradation (with offlap) during the 1–2 m relative sea-level fall of late Holocene time. Since then, marine carbonate deposition and evaporite diagenesis have dominated the Holocene sequence, but it is aeolian processes that largely control their ultimate distribution within the constraints of the contemporaneous sea-levels. Longshore currents, lateral and leeward accretion, infilling of stranded lagoons and deflation on a massive scale testify to the crucial role of wind in the development of this proximal ramp. The Holocene aeolian sediments, though extensive, are very different in character from the Pleistocene sediments. Two generations of Holocene supratidal anhydrites are recognized. The earlier one was partly transgressive, but the later one is regressive. In addition to the present-day oolith factories on the ebb tidal deltas at the seaward ends of tidal channels between the barrier islands of central Abu Dhabi, oolith factories also exist on exposed beaches and tidal embayments of western Abu Dhabi. They also occurred within Pleistocene and Holocene embayments. Flat-topped and sometimes shingled hardgrounds representing isochronous events extend over very large areas. So also do commonly observed iron oxide bands formed beneath the sabkha surfaces.

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Accurate sea-level reconstruction is critical in understanding the drivers of coastal evolution. Inliers of shallow marine limestone and aeolianite are exposed as zeugen (carbonate-capped erosional remnants) on the southern coast of the Arabian/Persian Gulf. These have generally been accepted as evidence of a eustatically driven, last-interglacial relative sea-level highstand preceded by a penultimate glacial-age lowstand. Instead, recent optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating suggests a last glacial age for these deposits, requiring >100 m of uplift since the last glacial maximum in order to keep pace with eustatic sea-level rise and implying the need for a wholesale revision of tectonic, stratigraphic and sea-level histories of the Gulf. These two hypotheses have radically different implications for regional neotectonics and land–sea distribution histories. Here we test these hypotheses using OSL dating of the zeugen formations. These new ages are remarkably consistent with earlier interpretations of the formations being last interglacial or older in age, showing that tectonic movements are negligible and eustatic sea-level variations are responsible for local sea-level changes in the Gulf. The cause of the large age differences between recent studies is unclear, although it appears related to large differences in the measured accumulated dose in different OSL samples.

The common occurrence of patterned dolomites in the upper Arab Formation of the Arabian Gulf is highlighted. Their mottled appearance is due to concentrations of microcrystalline iron sulphide. The dolomites are typically devoid of bioclastic debris and are usually interbedded with stromatolites and thin carbonates, both of which commonly contain anhydrite nodules. Previous workers have interpreted the patterned appearance as originating from birds-eye porosity, burrowing activity or plant roots, but their mottled appearance, and possibly also the dolomite, probably originated as a by-product of the activities of sulphate-reducing bacteria in water-logged or subaqueous sediments on the floors of salinas or very highly saline lagoons from which dissolved sulphate and/or gypsum had been removed. This implies that the Arab Formation was originally locally even more gypsiferous than is evident from its existing bedded anhydrites. The related processes of sulphate removal and sulphide formation were penecontemporaneous, as shown by occurrences of the mottled fabrics as intraclasts. Contorted lamination within the patterned dolomites and their frequent involvement with sediment injection structures are evidence of fluidization. Reasons for the contortion and fluidization are considered with respect to compatible Holocene depositional and diagenetic environments. In addition to the comparatively simple depositional models of extensively prograding supratidal sabkhas, which are traditionally applied to facies associations of stromatolites and bedded anhydrites in the Arab Formation, the presence of patterned dolomites demands consideration of less continuous and static facies belts with reduced correlatability that imply higher levels of reservoir heterogeneity.

Easier access to most parts of the Abu Dhabi coastline, combined with satellite imagery, has enabled a more detailed examination of the Holocene strata than was possible twenty or thirty years ago. Whilst the basic principles of coastal progradations documented in those early days are still valid, they portrayed an oversimplified picture of the Holocene coastal geomorphology and sabkha sedimentology. New data re-emphasises the importance of antecedant topography in imposing depositional complexity on the Holocene System. Former Holocene shorelines can now be mapped with greater clarity and reveal its highly embayed nature. The Holocene transgressive limits are locally redefined. Some palaeo-highs, that formed earlier Holocene peninsulas, have been completely removed by deflation. Two phases of sabkha anhydrite are recognised and their distributions are largely predictable by remote sensing.