standing on sabkha

Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,/ And to the Presence in the room he said,/ "What writest thou?" The Vision raised its head,/ And with a look made of all sweet accord/ Answered, "The names of those who love the Lord."
James Henry Leigh Hunt (1784-1859)

“Sabkha is an Arabic term which refers to flat and very saline areas of sand or silt lying just above the tide or water table,” says Kris Vallancy, a Muscat-based marine scientist. “It is a salt crusted desert. In Oman there are primarily two types to be found: inter-dune or inland sabkha occurs in low-lying basins often between dunes in the desert, while coastal sabkha which, as the name suggests, is found at the coastal shoreline. Inter-dune sabkha is formed when wind erosion removes surface materials down to the water table. Water is the vital ingredient that enables all sabkha to exist in the first place and is present in the form of flooding, runoff accumulation, capillary rise and tidal fluctuation.” Matthew gets more technical – sabkha is a surface with a low CBR – the California Bearing Ratio that serves as a penetration test for the evaluation of the mechanical strength of road sub-grades.”

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