The Sultanate of Oman is a rapidly modernizing country with a significant length of its coastline slated for development. Much of the coastline is still in its natural state and basic studies describing the sedimentary systems need to be conducted in order to plan effectively for their sustainable development and to monitor changes in them with time. For such purposes, sediment samples (smface and sub-surface), elevation data, and serial sediment cores were collected at Sur Lagoon during three field seasons. The research objectives, procedures, results, and analyses for Sur lagoon are presented in three chapters. The first chapter compares textural facies, identified on the basis of particle-size distribution (PSD) of surface sediments from Sur Lagoon and evaluated using multi-variate cluster analysis, for their value in recognizing modem sedimentary environments. Clustering the full PSD size spectrum (0.0375 - 1888 µm) shows that facies identification is possible is closely tied to surface elevation, particle-size decreasing with increasing elevation above mean seal level. This analytical technique should be tested under different conditions to assess further its utility. The second chapter discusses the taphonomically distinct and laterally extensive (> 1 km2) bivalve shell bed deposited by a tsunami on November 28th 1945. Taphonomic characteristics of this unit are compared to those of the shell- rich tsunamite from Caesarea, Israel, and resulted in the identification of three generic, tsunamigenic-specific traits in shell beds: 1) thickly bedded and laterally extensive shell deposit, 2) presence of allochthonous articulated bivalves not in life position, and 3) extensive angular fragmentation. When these three traits are found together, a tsunamigenic origin should be considered for the shell bed. The third chapter analyzes the PSD of the tsunamite in eight sediment cores for digested and undigested samples. Cluster analysis of the PSD extended the upper or lower tsunamite contacts in four cores, but in general, the tsunamite thickness is consistent with the previously identified shell beds (Chapter 3). The tsunamigenic processes that resulted in the deposition of the shell bed were complex, and deposition occurred during run-up, flooding, and backwash stages of the tsunami, incorporating marine, lagoonal, and terrestrial (wadi) sediment into the tsunamite. The results of this study provide baseline sedimentological data for an understudied region of the world. New applications of cluster analysis of PSD and taphonomic analysis have the potential to identify previously unknown tsunamites in the geological record, and lithological facies using textural analysis.

The Sultanate of Oman is a rapidly modernizing country with a significant length of its coastline slated for development. Much of the coastline is still in its natural state and basic studies describing the sedimentary systems need to be conducted in order to plan effectively for their sustainable ...