Qatar is a peninsula on the southern shore of the Persian Gulf, with most of its 4,483 mi² (11,610 km²) being a barren plain covered with sand. This part of the Arabian plateau located between the Arabian Shield and the mobile belt of Iran has a low relief topography with a maximum altitude of about 338 feet (103 metres). Constituted by an elliptical anticlinal arc oriented north-south, Qatar presents a geological succession of Tertiary limestones and dolomites – intercalated with clays, shales, gypsum and marls – locally covered by Quaternary and recent deposits. The sedimentations, marine transgressions and outcrops of the different periods have resulted in successive stratigraphic formations. The Middle Eocene Dammam is followed by the Miocene Dam and the Pliocene to Upper Miocene Hofuf. A fine example of the latter formation is shown here in the Zekreet Peninsula (west coast of the country).