The Strait of Hormuz has become so famous that almost everyone in the world is eager to know about this wonder because,
due to its closure, America and Iran are at war, and it is not known how long this will continue. In fact, the Strait of Hormuz is a narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Professor Mike Searle of the Department of Earth Sciences (Geology) at Oxford University says that it is a geological wonder. Where you can see clear signs of two continents colliding. About a quarter of the world's seaborne oil trade passes through the Strait of Hormuz to reach its destination. This was reported by Hadi Shah in the July issue of Urdu Digest. It is a 33-mile-wide waterway located between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. This narrow passage is one of the world's most important maritime "choke points"—a busy trade route that, if closed, could wreak havoc on the global economy. As has been the case since late February 2026 due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. According to Professor Mike Searle of Oxford University, it is here that two continents can be seen meeting. Evidence of this collision is visible throughout the geology of the region, from the Zagros Mountains in southern Iran to the narrowest part of the Strait of Hormuz, where Oman's Musandam Peninsula juts out like a dagger into Iran in the north.
Famous for its steep slopes, black cliffs
and sea-cut valleys, the Musandam Peninsula is one of the few places on Earth
where ophiolites (rocks that are normally buried deep beneath the ocean floor)
are so spectacularly exposed. Searle says it is the largest and best-preserved
ophiolite deposit in the world. However, the same geological process that has
made the Strait of Hormuz so unique and distinctive also makes it vulnerable. The process that created the Strait of Hormuz began about 35 million
years ago with the collision of two continents (the Arabian Plate to the south
and the Eurasian Plate to the north). At that time, the continents were
separated by an ancient ocean, Tethys, named after the sea god of Greek
mythology. Mark Allen, head of the Department of Earth Sciences at Durham
University in the UK, who has studied the Arabia-Eurasia collision, says that
the Arabian plate began to sink northward beneath the Eurasian plate.
This process, known as “subduction,”
resulted in the disappearance of the Tethys Sea, as the two continental plates
and the landmasses above them joined together. Allen adds that as the Arabian
plate continued to make its way beneath Eurasia, the two plates eventually
began to contract and thicken. Much like two cars crashing into each other.
When these two plates collided and rose, they gave rise to the Zagros Mountains
of present-day Iran. This tectonic movement also created favorable conditions
for the emergence of the Strait of Hormuz. Allen says that during the last ice
age, about 20,000 years ago, the water in the Persian Gulf was so shallow that
it could be crossed on foot in some places, but as the ice sheets began to
melt, the water level of the global oceans rose significantly, that is, by
about a hundred meters in just 15,000 years. Allen says that from a geologist's
point of view, this change was quite rapid. Over time, this process brought
water to the eastern coast of present-day Iraq and also filled the Persian Gulf
with water. There was a time when the waters of rivers like the Tigris and
Euphrates filled the Strait of Hormuz.
If you look around the Strait of Hormuz and explore the landscapes on both sides of it, you will see amazing signs of
this collision of continents. “The Zagros Mountains have long been considered a
paradise for structural geologists,” adds Allen. “That is, experts who are
interested in how and why rocks are formed? Because you can study these large
structures by walking on foot and also through satellite images. It is one of
the most impressive geological landscapes on Earth.” To the south, the Musandam
Peninsula is part of Oman’s Al-Hajar mountain range, which extends along the
northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Searle explains that these
mountains are mostly composed of ophiolite, which is part of the lower layer
and mantle of the ancient Tethys Ocean. This part came up against the Arabian
Plate during a continental collision at the end of the Cretaceous period, 10 to
60 million years ago.
The geological force that created the
Strait of Hormuz tilted the peninsula to the east so much that it appeared to
be squeezing the Strait of Hormuz. Most importantly, this continental collision
also gave the region incredible reserves of oil. Allen says that for millions
of years before it collided with Eurasia, the Arabian Plate was just below sea
level, where all the rocks needed to create oil and gas deposits accumulated.
Over time, the collision of the plates trapped these oil and gas deposits under
rocks on the northern tip of the Arabian Plate, which now lies under parts of
Iran, Iraq and Syria. Allen says that what makes the Middle East unique is its
vast scale. All this happened over a very large area over a long period of
time, and the oil here.
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