Saudi Arabia, Persian Gulf Coast

Introduction

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has an Persian Gulf coast about 700 km long. The Arabian Peninsula has a steep western escarpment rising to 1,500–3,000 m at the edge of a plateau that declines gradually eastward, flattening to a broad coastal plain. Longer watercourses run eastward, but there are no permanent rivers, and the landscape is largely desert.

The climate is hot and arid. The Persian Gulf has summer temperatures ranging from 32°C in the south to 20°C in the north, falling to between 22 and 16°C in winter. Salinity is about 40 parts per thousand (ppt) in the south, but diminishes off the inflowing rivers in the north. Coral reefs are extensive in the southern part of the Persian Gulf, but become sparse in the cooler and more turbid northern regions. Mangroves are found in sheltered sites behind fringing reefs and beside inlets.

On the Persian Gulf coast the mean spring tide range is about 1.5 m and a sandy shore is exposed at low tide. Seas in the Persian Gulf are...