'THE GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF DHUFAR PROVINCE, MUSCAT AND OMAN' [‎27r] (43/96)

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The shear zone is 18 inches across and is full of flaky carbonaceous
shale, which suggests crushed coal seams or the residue of bituminous
material (oil). The men with me stated that the Alum shale
(which I had really come in search of) was only a little further on
through the Ansarit gap, but they had been saying this for the
past 3 or 4 miles and it was quite impossible to get an accurate idea
and I decided to wait till some of them returned with more material.
They were away perhaps an hour and came back with samples
which were not all astringent in taste, and it was clear that the bed
was less than a foot thick and definitely not coal. Analyses of this
Ansarit carbonaceous material and of the fault shale show they are
high in volatile matter and may be related to coal or lignite more
closely than to oil. On the way back I was struck by the general
resemblance of the country to that of the Hanun-Thenut-Ha’rat
region, and I think they have the same strata. The limestones
on this side frequently show low seaward dips (as between Murbat
and Takah, near the Rizat spring, near the outfall of the Arbat,
and other places). This had been noted by H. J. Carter also.
55. On the 15th February I re-visited the Garzaz spring with
Mr. Pradhan Singh, and then after collecting data on the capacity
of the aerodrome camp tube-well we went on to the pool in the
Sahnut (Sahalnaut) wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. . The measurement at the Garzaz
confirmed my previous figure of 1-25 cusecs, while the Sahnut
channel was found to be carrying about 3 cusecs, and could probably
secure more if precautions were taken against leakage from the
pool. However, there is a great loss from the channel, since at a
distance of 4 miles out from the pool the volume of water was barely
i a cusec. On the way back we had time to examine the lake at
El Balad, and I was certainly surprised to find the water fresh, and
to see it at about the same level as the sea (across a strip of sand),
and to hear that its level rises and falls with the tide though not as
much. The Sultan, whom I saw that evening, told me that many
of the wells (used for irrigating the cocoanut groves along the coast)
are also influenced by the tide and yet hold fresh water. These
wells are from 12 to 18 feet deep and the water level in them should
be slightly above sea-level. Next day, the 16th February, I examined
more specimens that had been brought in and I packed up all those
I decided to have further examined or analyzed, then in the evening
I went to the Palace to explain matters to His Highness as I was to
leave by the plane next morning. The Sultan understood everything
and was most considerate.
56. I left Salalah on the 17th February by the British Overseas
Airways Corporation’s Speedboat (Dakota plane, Captain A. Spooner)
at about 8 a.m. for Masira island and Karachi. This company is
closing down its traffic along the south Arabian coast and with
drawing from Ryan (near Makalla), Salalah and Masira, and this was