Study Interest

For centuries community have utilized the dispersive capacity of the sea and estuaries to dilute and flush away waste products. This exercise has normally worked well when the pollutant loading was much smaller than the receiving water assimilative capacity, but with the expansion in population and related industry, the assimilative capacity of numerous estuaries and some coastal regions has been exceeded, leading to a major impact on marine biodiversity and a threat of human health problems. The assimilative capacity of receiving water depends on two main factors. First, on the degree of flushing that disperses the pollutants and dilutes their concentration. Second, on the type of pollutant and the nature of the receiving water’s ability to assimilate the pollution without losing its ecological functionality. The objective of the present work is to ascertain the geographic dispersion characteristics variations of the Arabian Gulf, so as to provide a guide for engineering developments and environmental management.

The Arabian Gulf is relatively shallow basin which expands between 22 ⁰ and 30 ⁰ north and 48 ⁰ and 56 ⁰ east that is surrounded by eight countries (Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Iran and Iraq) in which it is separated from Gulf of Oman by the Strait of Hormuz, that is no more than 56 km wide at its narrowest point. From the Strait onwards towards the Indian Ocean the depth gradually multiply from 100m to 2000m at the Gulf of Oman and Indian Ocean, respectively. The maximum width of the Gulf is 338 km, and the length to its northern coast is nominally 1000 km. Therefore, surface area of the Gulf is in the order of 2.39 X 105 km², and a mean depth of 36 m implies an average volume of 8.63 X 103 km³.

Generally speaking the Gulf is a bowl like shape shallow near edges and deeper in the middle. The bathymetry of the Gulf shown in figure 1 indicates high depths on the Iranian coast compared to the Arabian coast with mean depth of 20m and 10m respectively. In particular very shallow water levels are observed at northern part of the Gulf near Kuwait, surrounding Qatar and United Arab Emirates.

Note: The above picture is taken from Google Earth.