Page 37 - UAE Truncal States_Neat

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

12