Beach tar concentrations on the Muscat coastline, Gulf of Oman, Indian Ocean, 1993–1995

Beach tar concentrations in the Capital Area near Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, were measured 20 times at nine sites from February 1993 to February 1995. Tar concentrations were highly variable in space and time, with averages for three transects at each station ranging from zero to over 5 kg m−1 of beach front. Tar values for the November 1993 sampling period averaged 10–100 times the concentrations of other periods. These high tar concentrations were measured about 2 weeks after an offshore storm, which may have caused tankers to jettison petroleum. This level of tar pollution is among the highest previously measured in the world, and is a greater amount than was measured anywhere on the Oman coast a decade ago. In contrast to reports that oil and tar pollution have declined elsewhere in the world, the problem appears to have worsened for Oman, if these determinations for the Capital Area are indicative for the entire coastline.