This huge fold shows the enormous stress that has been placed on the rock. This Permian sedimentary limestone rock is around 250 million years old. It was formed when Oman was covered by the Tethys; an ocean that has long ceased to exist.
The overlying quartzite is older than the limestone beneath; it was turned over by huge pressure from the northeast during the late cretaceous. Underneath these layers, the limestone heated up and became flexible, folded and rotated around 270°C in a clockwise direction.