The scarp lands of Saudi Arabia

In central Saudi Arabia, the combination of rock types and sedimentary bedding created a unique scarp landscape. The escarpments were formed during Late Miocene through Early Quaternary times. At present, cuesta formation and migration are restricted to the actual escarpments as a consequence of negligible sediment removal. The plains between the escarpments are sealed through periodically active fluvial processes and through eolian sedimentation. In this publication, the major escarpments of central Saudi Arabia are described. The interactions between tectonics, climate, and morphogenesis which created this unique landscape are reviewed.     

Global circulation from SEASAT altimeter data

Abstract

A set of time‐averaged sea surface heights at 1° intervals, derived from the adjusted SEASAT altimeter data, and the GEML2 gravity field are used to estimate the long‐wavelength stationary sea surface topography. In order to reduce the leakage of energy in the estimated sea surface topography, the GEML2 field is augmented by the Rapp81 gravity field to generate geoidal undulations with wavelengths consistent with the ones of sea surface heights. These undulations are subtracted from the sea surface heights, and the resulting differences are subjected to filtering in order to recover sea surface topography with minimum wavelengths of 6000 km and an estimated accuracy of 20–25 cm. These estimates agree well with oceanographic and other satellite‐derived results.

The direction of current flow can be computed on a global basis using the spherical harmonic expansion of sea surface topography. This is done not only for the SEASAT/GEML2 estimates, but also using the recent dynamic topography estimates of Levitus. The results of the two solutions are very similar and agree well with the major circulation features of the oceans.