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Chapter One

                  described in geological terms as eruptive salt-plugs. Dalma Island, 45
                  kilometres north of the western coast of Abu Dhabi, has fresh-water
                  wells on it which used to provide water for the seasonal pearling fleet
                  and support a small resident population. Facilities for producing,
                  storing and exporting off-shore oil from Abu Dhabi are located on
                  Das Island, 170 kilometres from the capital; on al Mubarraz Island,
                  100 kilometres away; on Arzanah Island, 190 kilometres away; and
                  further facilities are under construction on Zirku Island, 140
                  kilometres from Abu Dhabi. One of the largest of Abu Dhabi’s
                  islands, Sir Bani Yas, is situated to the west of one of the few deep­
                  water channels which reach the coast. The rocky hills of Jabal al
                  Dhannah on the mainland opposite Sir Bani Yas provided a suitable
                  site for the establishment of a tanker terminal for the oil produced in
                  the desert.
                    The capital of Abu Dhabi, bearing the same name as the State, is
                  also located on an island, which is connected to the mainland by two
                  road bridges. The triangular island has about 10 kilometres of
                  waterfront and extends for 16 kilometres towards the mainland
                  between lagoons and other islands. It accommodates at present most
                  of the capital’s administrative and residential buildings, including
                  the international airport.
                    Sabkhah is the local name for the salty mud-flats, formed in
                  geologically recent times from dried-up lagoons, which extend along
                  the full length of this coast.9 They are saturated with salt and cannot
                  support any vegetation. Tidal movement or rain turn even those parts
                  which might be passable at other times into a treacherous swamp
                  unsafe for camel or car. The Sabkhah Matli, near the north-western
                  border of the State with Qatar and Saudi Arabia, extends over 100
                  kilometres inland from the coast and provides an added hindrance to
                  communications with neighbouring regions. The sabkhah belt
                  stretches almost uninterrupted the whole length of the coast from the
                  western border with Qatar near Khaur al ’Udaid to beyond Dubai in
                  the north-east. Some rock outcrops and sand-spits relieve the utter
                  monotony of this sabkhah landscape and afford access to the mostly
                  sandy shoreline and its maze of tidal lagoons, sandbanks and
                  islands.
                    The sands generally begin between 5 and 15 kilometres from the
                  shore and rise gently towards the east and south, the oasis of al ’Ain
                  being situated in the east at the foot of the mountains and about 200
                  metres above sea level. The extent to which the desert is habitable

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