Structural Geology/Tectonics, Geodynamics, Geology of Oman

Research interest:

My research interest is to understand the evolution of mountain belts, especially the Oman Mountains, at the orogenic scale to micro-scale and from the Neoproterozoic until present-day. To achieve this goal, I conduct field surveys on structural geology, mineralogy/petrology, and sedimentology in collaboration with geophysicists and geochronologists at various national and international institutions.

Publications:

Scharf, A., Mattern, F., Al-Wardi, M., Frijia, G., Moraetis, D., Pracejus, B., Bauer, W. and Callegari, I., 2021. The Geology and Tectonics of the Jabal Akhdar and Saih Hatat Domes, Oman Mountains. Geological Society of London, M54.

Scharf, A., Matter, F., Moraetis, D., Callegari, I. and Weidle, C., 2019. Postobductional kinematic evolution and geomorphology of a major regional structure - The Semail Gap Fault Zone (Oman Mountains). Tectonics 38(8), 2756-2778.

Environmental Geochemistry, Biomineralisation, Economic Geology, Metamorphic Petrology, Archaeometallurgy

Research interest:

I am examining the interaction between microbes and the biological formation/destruction of minerals to improve our knowledge about life shaping the inorganic world. This also helps in advancing remediation techniques for mining and industry wastes. In collaboration with archaeologists from Oman and overseas, I analyse Bronze and Iron Age slags as well as ancient mining sites to identify the origin of metal artefacts found in Oman.

Publications:

Pracejus, B., Al-Ansari, A., Al-Battashi, H. (2017): Cyanobacterial mineralisation of posnjakite (Cu4(SO4)(OH)6⋅H2O) in Cu-rich acid mine drainage at Yanqul, northern Oman. Chemie der Erde – Geochemistry, 77, 535-544.

Pracejus, B., Sundararajan, N., Al-Khirbash, S., Al-Hosni, T., Ebrahimi, A., Al-Bulushi, S., Al-Lazki, A., Al-Maashani, M. (2018): Aspects of U-Th fractionation in Tertiary limestones and calcretes of Dhofar, southern Oman. Chemie der Erde – Geochemistry, 78:479-489.

Sedimentology, Tectonics, Structural Geology and Basin Analysis

Research interest:

• Microfacies, depositional environment, petrology, lithostratigraphy of limestone formations of Oman and adjacent regions; turbidite systems of Oman and Tibet
• Development of new methods
• Relating global processes to regional phenomena
• Solving geological problems by establishing the relationship between tectonics and sedimentation
• Tectonic evolution of Oman
• Development of the Aruma Foreland Basin system of Oman and the Songliao Basin of NE-China

Publications:

Mattern, F., Pracejus, B., Scharf, A., Frijia, G., Al-Salmani, M., 2021. Microfacies and composition of ferruginous beds at the platform-foreland basin transition (Late Albian to Turonian Natih Formation, Oman Mountains): forebulge dynamics and regional to global tectono-geochemical framework. Sedimentary Geology 429, Amsterdam (Elsevier), doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2021.106074

Mattern, F., 2005. Ancient sand-rich submarine fans: depositional systems, models, identification, and analysis. Earth-Science Reviews 70 (3/4), 167-202, Amsterdam (Elsevier), doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2004.12.001

Applied Geophysics

Research interest:

Reservoir Geophysics, Geo-mechanics, Petrophysics, Machine Learning, Near surface geophysics including: GPR, Resistivity, Refraction seismic tomography and MASW.

Publications:

Farfour, M. (2021). Poisson ratio-based AVO indicator to detect hydrocarbon-saturated reservoirs: example from North Western Australian Offshore. Arabian Journal of Geosciences. DOI: 10.1007/s12517-021-08589-9

Amoura, S., Gaci, S., Barbosa S., Farfour, M., Bounif, M. 2021. Investigation of lithological heterogeneities from velocity logs using EMD-Hölder technique combined with multifractal analysis and unsupervised statistical methods. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering. Accepted available online. https://doi.10.1016/j.petrol.2021.109588

Farfour, M. and Foster, D. (2021). New AVO expression and attribute based on scaled Poisson reflectivity. Journal of Applied Geophysics, 185, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jappgeo.2021.104255.

Economic Geology/Precambrian Geology

Research interest:

laterites evolution and mineralization (Ni-Co/PGE mineralization)/ ironstones

Evolution, geochronology, & mineralization of the  Precambrian Terrains (Arabian Shield)

Publications:

Al-Khirbash, S. A., & Ahmed, A. H. (2021). Distribution and mobility of platinum-group elements in the Late Cretaceous Ni-laterite in the Northern Oman Mountains. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 126 (10) e2021JB022363. https://doi. org/10.1029/2021JB022363

Al-Khirbash S., Heikal Th., Whitehouse M, Windley B and, Al Selwi (2021) Evolution and mineralization of the Precambrian basement of Yemen. Z. Hamimi et al. (eds.), The Geology of the Arabian-Nubian Shield, Regional Geology Reviews (Chapter 24), 633-657. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72995-0_24

Al-Khirbash, S., 2020, Mineralogical Characterizations of Low-grade Nickel–Iron Laterites from North Oman: MLA-SEM based automated quantitative mineralogy approach. Ore Geology Reviews. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oregeorev.2020.103429  

Mineralogy

Research interest:

Applied mineralogy. Upper mantle and lower crust petrology, Geochemistry, Meteorites, Impact structures, Medical Geology, Carbonatite, Kimberlite Ophiolite

Publications:

Nasir, S. (2016) Petrology of Late Jurassic allochthonous ultramafic lamprophyres within the Batain Nappes, Northeastern Oman. International Geology Review, 58/8, 913-928  

Rajendran, S., Nasir, S. (2019): Mapping of hydrothermal alteration in the upper mantle-lower crust transition zone of the Tayin Massif, Sultanate of Oman using remote sensing technique. Journal of African Earth Sciences. Volume 150,  , Pages 722- 743

Rajendran, S., Nasir, S. (2019): ASTER capability in mapping of mineral resources of arid region: A review on mapping of mineral resources of the Sultanate of Oman Volume 108,   Ore Geology Reviews. 108: 33-53

Hydrogeology and Environmental Geoscience

Research interest:

Groundwater recharge, intra-aquifers mixing, use of isotopes in groundwater studies, application of geophysical techniques in groundwater exploration, assessment of slope stability and failure, hot springs, usage of bottled water and its impact.

Publications:

Farfour, Mohammed & Al Hosni, Talal, 2020. Mapping of near-surface formations by refraction seismic tomography: a case study from Al-Amerat, Sultanate of Oman. Arabian Journal of Geosciences. 13. 10.1007/s12517-020-05459-8.

Bernhard Pracejus, Narasimman Sundararajan, Salah Al-Khirbash, Talal Al-Hosni, A Ebrahimi, Shakil Al-Bulushi, Ali Al-Lazki, Musadem Al-Maashani, 2018. Aspects of U-Th Fractionation in Tertiary Limestones and Calcretes of Dhofar, Southern Oman. Chemie der Erde, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemer.2018.09.003.

O. Abdalla, A. Izady, T. Al-Hosni, M. Chen, H. Al-Mamari, and K. Semhi, “Modern Recharge in a Transboundary Groundwater Basin Deduced from Hydrochemical and Isotopic Investigations: Al Buraimi, Oman,” Geofluids, vol. 2018, Article ID 7593430, 14 pages, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/7593430.