sabkha

/ ˈsæbxə, -kə /

noun

1. a flat coastal plain with a salt crust, common in Arabia

sabkha

1. A flat area between a desert and an ocean, characterized by a crusty surface consisting of evaporite deposits (including salt, gypsum, and calcium carbonate), windblown sediments, and tidal deposits. Sabkhas form primarily through the evaporation of sea water that seeps upward from a shallow water table and through the drying of windblown sea spray.

Word History and Origins

Origin of sabkha¹

C19: from Arabic

Example Sentences

It overtook them in soil known as "Sabkha," signifying low-lying clay mixed with salt, churned by wet into greasy, sticky mud.

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Taken together, the book of rocks we were reading today suggests that the environment was most likely a sabkha, a setting commonly found along ocean margins in hot, dry environments.

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