The Geology and Caves of the Sultanate of Oman - Oman Natural Heritage Lecture 2020

This event will begin from 3.45pm UK / 6.45pm Oman on the 21st October. There will be a 15min introductory slideshow before the talks kick-off at 4pm UK / 7pm Oman. There will also be a Q&A session with our speakers - to submit your questions, log in to use the YouTube Live Chat function on the right of the screen. The 5th Oman Natural Heritage Lecture in London will focus on the wonders of Oman’s geological heritage to showcase the work of the Geological Society of Oman’s geologists and cavers. The Story: The Wonders of the Geology of Oman: Oman has fascinating geology that never fails to attract people. Many text‐book examples of rocks, fossils, structures, caves, meteorites, and land terrains are found here. Through much of the past 800 million years, Oman has lain, as today, on the edge of a continent and ocean. Currents within these oceans carried life from one region to another. As continents rifted or collided and oceans opened or closed, new arrangements came into place. A lot of these details are obvious today from the well‐exposed rocks in the mountain chains in North and South Oman. Oman hosts the best exposed and largest ophiolites, a slab of an old oceanic plate, in the world. Thousands of meteorites were found in the desert plains of Oman, including rare Martian and Lunar meteorites that provide a lot of information about the solar system. The discovered caves in Oman are among the largest, deepest, and most beautiful caves found in the world. In Oman, evidence of the oldest fossils of plants and animals around the globe are found. The country often acted as a stepping‐stone between the various continents for land fossils during different geological times, such as dinosaurs and elephants that once roamed the plains of the country. Early man passed through, and even settled, as evident from the huge number of artefacts that he left behind. Civilizations flourished in this land once called Majan and Mazoon. Welcoming and vibrant, amongst the splendour, Omanis live today.