Around 350 million years ago the Black Rock Limestone was forming in a sea similar to the Red Sea of the present world. The reconstruction above is a northward view from the Voyage location. The low lying coast is the southern edge of the Midland Platform as shown in the reconstruction below.

Present day coastlines overlain for reference. The texture applied to the land areas is to be taken as indicative of the type of terrain present and not what it may specifically have looked like at the time.

Sabkha on the Persian Gulf coast. The name is derived from the Arabic for salt flat.

Sabkhas form along arid coastlines usually backed by deserts. They are located above the high tide line, but within the splash zone of waves (the supratidal zone) and dominated by evaporite-carbonate deposits.