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.     

Regional and urban population size weights in Saudi Arabia, 1962–1974

The aim of this paper 3s to study the development of population weights for regions and urban centres in Saudi Arabia through the period 1962–1974. In order to achieve this aim some non-parametric statistical rules have been used such as rank-size rule and the four-city index. The results show non-balanced distribution of population on both regional and urban scales. The concentration of people in urban centres is more pronounced than the concentration in regions. This is due to internal and external movement of population towards largesized urban centres. The paper recommends that the official authorities should give more consideration to economic and service development in rural and urban areas that are retreating in ranking and decreasing in population.     

The extent of desertification on Saudi Arabia

Desertification is the process that turns productive deserts into non-productive deserts as a result of poor land-management. Desertification reduces the ability of land to support life, affecting wild species, domestic animals, agricultural crops and humans. The reduction in plant cover that accompanies desertification leads to accelerated soil erosion by wind and water. South Africa is losing approximately 300–400 million tons of topsoil every year. As vegetation cover and soil layer are reduced, rain fall impact and run-off increases. This paper discusses the extent of desertification, its potential threat to sustained irrigated agriculture and possible measures adopted to control ongoing desertification processes to minimize the loss of agricultural productivity in an arid country such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.     

Drought and human adjustment in Saudi Arabia

Drought is one of the natural hazards which causes death and damage for property particularly in drylands of the world. Drought as a natural hazard tends to limit and disrupt human activities. On the other hand, man has tried to adjust his living conditions to this hazard. The adjustment to drought is different from one country to another. Adjustment to drought is affected by culture, income, and by the political system in the country. In the case of Saudi Arabia adjustment to drought hazard is usually the work of both individuals, and government. The Saudi Arabian government has spent large sums of money to reduce impact of drought hazard.     

The regional distribution of Saudi Arabia’s real estate development fund housing loans: Measuring inequality in housing distribution

The objective of this study is to test the premise of regional equality in the distribution of the Real Estate Development Fund (REDF) number of housing loans as well as total monetary value of of loans using inequality measures; by calculating the Index of Segregation, the Gini Index and the Fare share Index. Results of the analysis show that regional inequality exist among all regions of Saudi Arabia with respect to the distribution of number of housing loans as well as total monetary value of loans. However, the values of the inequality indices are small and tend to become smaller over time.     

The porosity and engineering properties of vesicular basalt in Saudi Arabia

The presence of non-connected vesicles in extensive basalt flows in western Saudi Arabia greatly affects their engineering properties such as compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, Poisson's ratio and sonic velocities. In order to evaluate some of these properties, the density and/or the porosity of the material must be known. Using conventional methods to determine the porosity or the density of irregular lumps proved to be erroneous. An image analysis technique is suggested to estimate the porosity of the vesicular basalt. The estimated values were correlated against the calculated porosity values using core samples, and were found to have excellent correlation (R=0.99). The estimated porosity values were also correlated against the static and dynamic properties of the basalt and a good level of correlation (R=0.77) was obtained.     

Nyimang women in urban settlements

Rural-urban migration is a widespread process in Sudan. Male migration from the Nuba mountains to Khartoum already started during the colonial time. Up to the present, the percentage of women under the migrants has rapidly increased. The women follow their husbands or move together with their families to the capital. Their living conditions in Khartoum differ from those in rural areas. The migrant women have less opportunities to work outside the house or to move to other housing areas, so that they only have contacts with members of their ethnic group living in the same neighbourhood. Besides the social problems, the women are confronted with economic difficulties. Their aim, to save money for remigration, is nearly impossible to attain.     

Patterns of urban settlements in Somalia

In this research paper attempts have been made to analyze the distribution of 68 urban settlements in 14 regions of the country. The value of near-neighbour statistic (R) shows nearly random pattern of urban settlements in some regions and approachingly uniform distribution of urban settlements in other regions. Regional distribution of urban settlements and their growth have been explained in context of region's geographical, economic and industrial frameworks.     

Geological and geotechnical aspects of Saudi Arabia

Summary This paper presents a brief review of the geological and geotechnical aspects of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The first part of the paper presents a brief summary of the geological aspects and the soil characteristics in different parts of the country. The second part gives a brief outline of the major geotechnical problems encountered in the regions of the Kingdom along with their geographical locations.     

Optimization of chlorination boosters in drinking water distribution network for Al-Khobar City in Saudi Arabia

Water quality management in distribution networks is directly related to spatial distribution of chlorine boosters and its dosages. Water chlorination is essential to reduce the effects of bacterial and other microbiological contaminants. A higher dosage of chlorine generates harmful by-products in addition to changes in drinking water’s taste and odor. The optimization of chlorine dosage is necessary to decrease the microbial contaminants that affect water quality. Once the chlorine threshold is determined for microbial contaminant, it will help decision makers suggest optimal values. These decisions can rely on the estimated water quality index (WQI). WQI is an index to evaluate water quality and can be linked to adequate residual chlorine with optimal booster dosage, numbers, and locations in water distribution network (WDN). The city of Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia’s WDN was selected to validate the application of this study. Based on geographic location, the city Al-Khobar water network was divided into five zones. The initial temporal and spatial analysis pointed out poor water quality zones. EPANET, a modeling and simulating software, was applied to evaluate the WQI. Those EPANET results were then integrated with an optimization model. The optimization model suggested new chlorine booster locations to improve water quality in the city of Al-Khobar water distribution network.     

Seismic vulnerability assessment in the new urban area of Diriyah Governorate,Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Nine seismic refraction profiles were conducted and processed to study the near-surface sediments in the new urban area of Diriyah. The 2D geoseismic models illustrate two layers: a surface layer of soft sediments and weathered to hard limestone bedrock. Moreover, microtremor measurements were performed at 38 sites for 40 min using three-component seismographs and processed to assess the peak spectral amplitude and the corresponding fundamental resonance frequency. The seismic vulnerability index at each measurement site was estimated. These results correlate well with the geotechnical borehole data. The north-western zone is highly vulnerable due to the great thickness of the soft sediments.     

Health care pattern and planning in Saudi Arabia

Amazonia I is a large multi-disciplinary project, now in its fourth year, concerned with the effects of changing land use on the ecology and climate of the Brazilian Amazon. It is primarily concerned with investigating the water, carbon and nutrient cycles, and brings together about 80 scientists from a number of Brasilian institutes, but especially from INPA in Manaus, CENA/USP in Piracicaba and EMBRAPA/CPATU in Belem.Major activities include the better identification of water vapour producing precipitation, to establish better water vapour circulation models (via ¹⁸O, deuterium and ³H analysis, plus radiosonding); the study of water relations of isolated forest areas; the study of various phases of the carbon cycle especially soil organic matter; primary production; and nitrogen and soil fertility studies.A first phase Regional Amazon Model (RAM) for hydrology is being developed, and it should shortly be possible to make a first research-based attempt at modelling the carbon cycle of the Amazon region.This coordinated project represents in most ways the type of research required for the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) and is a major Brasilian initiative.     

Natural and human-induced sinkhole hazards in Saudi Arabia: distribution,investigation, causes and impacts

Approximately 60 % of the 2,150,000 km² area of Saudi Arabia is underlain by soluble sediments (carbonate and evaporite rock formations, salt diapirs, sabkha deposits). Despite its hyper-arid climate, a wide variety of recent sinkholes have been reported in numerous areas, involving significant property losses. Human activities, most notably groundwater extraction, have induced unstable conditions on pre-existing cavities. This work provides an overview of the sinkhole hazard in Saudi Arabia, a scarcely explored topic. It identifies the main karst formations and the distribution of the most problematic sinkhole areas, illustrated through several case studies covering the wide spectrum of subsidence mechanisms. Some of the main investigation methods are presented through selected examples, including remote sensing, trenching and geophysics. Based on the available data, the main causal factors are identified and further actions that should be undertaken to better assess and manage the risk are discussed.     

Geographic analysis of manufacturing industry in Saudi Arabia

The study focuses on the analysis of manufacturing industry in Saudi Arabia by examining development, structure and spatial distribution. The analysis has shown that Saudi manufacturing is basically of recent development and is highly capital- and energy-intensive, particularly the hydrocarbon-based groups. Perhaps the most conspicuous weakness of Saudi industrialization is the almost total dependence on expatriate labour. Foreign capital and expertise share in the building and development of the industrial sector by providing technical, managerial, and marketing skills. Saudi industry is heavily subsidized by the government, and the public sector plays a commanding role in industrial development. Large-scale basic industries are owned and run by the government, while light manufacturing of the import-substitution type is dominated by the private sector. One of the main characteristics of manufacturing industry is that it is scantily diversified, modestly concentrated and remarkably linked geographically but not functionally or structurally. Although the authorities are exerting tremendous efforts to achieve a regional balance in industrial development, Saudi manufacturing industry is significantly polarized, urban-oriented and highly associated with the major axes of population scatter. Like all developing countries beginning to industrialize, Saudi manufacturing industry faces certain problems which have to be resolved so as to lay the foundations for a sound and prosperous industrial future. The paper goes on to indicate problems and to suggest solutions.     

Earth Fissuring and Land Subsidence in Western Saudi Arabia

The present investigation deals with the engineering geological evaluation of earth fissuring associated with land subsidence in Wadi Al-Yutamah. The investigations include surface mapping and sampling, in situ and laboratory soil testing, water well inventory, geophysical survey, and monitoring of open fissures and the level of the wadi floor.The earth fissures in the area developed as a result of land subsidence due to man-induced water level declines caused by pumping water from the wadi aquifer above a safe yield. This situation has produced a compaction of underlying unconsolidated sediments and formed hair fissures above ridges and steps of buried surface bedrock. These hair fissures enlarged later after flood erosion and possible enhancement with hydrocompaction.The wadi soil in the study area consists mainly of silt of low plasticity, low density and high void ratio and it was classified as loess like material and collapsing soil. The settlement in the area is greatly increased by excessive wetting under constant pressures. The calculated coefficients of subsidence (collapse) show that the wadi soils were considered to pose moderate problems when wetted.Monitoring of the existing open earth fissures using extensometers indicates that the width of the fissure increases after flooding or rain falls. Monitoring of the ground level using GPS techniques, shows a good relation between the declination of the water table and the subsidence of the ground of the wadi floor.     

Origin of peralkaline granites of Saudi Arabia

Small volumes of peralkaline granites were generated as the final phase of a Pan African calc-alkaline igneous event which built the Arabian Peninsula. The peralkaline granites are closely associated with trends or sutures related to ophiolites. Peralkaline rocks are chemically heterogeneous, with anomalous abundances of Zr (average 2,150 ppm±2,600 1), Y (200±190), and Nb (105±100), representing up to ten-fold enrichments of these elements relative to abundances in calc alkaline granite counterparts. Large enrichments of some rare earth elements and fluorine are also present.The peralkaline granites have scattered whole rock ¹⁸O values, averaging 8.7±0.6% in the Hadb Aldyaheen Complex and 10.7±1% in the Jabal Sayid Complex. Quartz-albite fractionations of 0.5 to 1.5% signify that the heavier whole rock -values probably represent the oxygen isotope composition of the peralkaline magma. Small variable enrichments of ¹⁸O, in conjunction with slightly elevated ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr initial ratios relative to broadly contemporaneous calc alkaline granites, are both suggestive of a small degree of involvement of crustal, or crustal derived material in the peralkaline magmas. It is proposed that the peculiar magma genesis is associated with a relaxation event which followed continental collision and underthrusting of salt rich sediments.