Figure 21: Paleofacies of the Pliocene to Holocene and location of oil and gas seeps. An extreme lowstand with short-term cycles occurred during this period. With the exception of the area of the Arabian Gulf (Agha Jari Formation) most of the Arabian Plate was exposed. As the continent-to-continent collision between Arabia and Eurasia continued, the Zagros orogeny intensified. Phases of compression led to the formation and deformation of the Zagros foredeep in front of the Zagros mountain belt.With information from: Al Naqib (1967); Al Sayari and Zötl (1978); Bender (1968); Guiraud et al. (2001); Kent and Hickman (1997); Link (1952); Litak et al. (1997); Ponikarov et al. (1966); Walley (1998b).