3D flexural subsidence and paleobathymetry of the United Arab Emirates foreland and passive margin basins

The Oman-United Arab Emirates (UAE) foreland basins record relief growth, erosion, and marine flooding along the eastern Arabian margin after Late Cretaceous ophiolite obduction. Previous subsidence analyses are largely one-dimensional and fail to capture three-dimensional foredeep-forebulge-backbulge variability. Here, we apply 3D flexural backstripping to resolve along-strike segmentation and the time-dependent migration of the UAE foreland system. By integrating 2D and 3D seismic reflection data, 549 exploration wells, and regional chronostratigraphy, we reconstruct three-dimensional tectonic subsidence, paleobathymetry, and sediment accumulation across eleven stratigraphic intervals spanning the Neoproterozoic to the present. Backstripping and forward flexure modeling document two major subsidence phases: an Early Permian-Jurassic episode related to reactivation of inherited Neoproterozoic structures, and a Late Cretaceous phase driven by Semail ophiolite loading. A preferred elastic thickness (T_e ≈ 25 km) reproduces a ∼ 2.9 km foredeep and ∼ 155 m peripheral forebulge, consistent with seismic and gravity derived basement geometry. Reconstructed water depths indicate progressive deepening of Paleozoic-Lower Mesozoic rifts, followed by post Campanian shallowing as the Aruma foreland infilled and loads waned. Decompacted isopachs document two major pulses of sediment accumulation: Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous during final rifting, and Late Cretaceous-Paleogene during foreland development and rapid erosion of the rising Oman-UAE mountains. These results link margin scale flexural architecture to the distribution and burial history of marine source and reservoir intervals and provide a regional template for comparison among collisional foreland systems.