Saudi Arabian seismic-refraction profile: A traveltime interpretation of crustal and upper mantle structure

The crustal and upper mantle compressional-wave velocity structure across the southwestern Arabian Shield has been investigated by a 1000-km-long seismic refraction profile. The profile begins in Mesozoic cover rocks near Riyadh on the Arabian Platform, trends southwesterly across three major Precambrian tectonic provinces, traverses Cenozoic rocks of the coastal plain near Jizan, and terminates at the outer edge of the Farasan Bank in the southern Red Sea. More than 500 surveyed recording sites were occupied, and six shot points were used, including one in the Red Sea.Two-dimensional ray-tracing techniques, used to analyze amplitude-normalized record sections indicate that the Arabian Shield is composed, to first order, of two layers, each about 20 km thick, with average velocities of about 6.3 km/s and 7.0 km/s, respectively. West of the Shield-Red Sea margin, the crust thins to a total thickness of less than 20 km, beyond which the Red Sea shelf and coastal plain are interpreted to be underlain by oceanic crust.A major crustal inhomogeneity at the northeast end of the profile probably represents the suture zone between two crustal blocks of different composition. Elsewhere along the profile, several high-velocity anomalies in the upper crust correlate with mapped gneiss domes, the most prominent of which is the Khamis Mushayt gneiss. Based on their velocities, these domes may constitute areas where lower crustal rocks have been raised some 20 km. Two intracrustal reflectors in the center of the Shield at 13 km depth probably represent the tops of mafic intrusives.The Mohorovičić discontinuity beneath the Shield varies from a depth of 43 km and mantle velocity of 8.2 km/s in the northeast to a depth of 38 km and mantle velocity of 8.0 km/s depth in the southwest near the Shield-Red Sea transition. Two velocity discontinuities occur in the upper mantle, at 59 and 70 km depth.The crustal and upper mantle velocity structure of the Arabian Shield is interpreted as revealing a complex crust derived from the suturing of island arcs in the Precarnbrian. The Shield is currently flanked by the active spreading boundary in the Red Sea.     

Mapping crustal structure beneath southern Tibet: Seismic evidence for continental crustal underthrusting

Receiver function imaging along a temporary seismic array (ANTILOPE-2) reveals detailed information of the underthrusting of the Indian crust in southern Tibet. The Moho dips northward from ~ 50 km to 80 km beneath the Himalaya terrane, and locally reaches ~ 85 km beneath the Indus–Yalung suture. It remains at ~ 80 km depth across the Lhasa terrane, and shallows to ~ 70 km depth under the Qiangtang terrane. An intra-crustal interface at ~ 60 km beneath the Lhasa terrane can be clearly followed southward through the Main Himalaya Thrust and connects the Main Boundary Thrust at the surface, which represents the border of the Indian crust that is underthrusting until south of the Bangong–Nujiang Suture. A mid-crustal low velocity zone is observed at depths of 14–30 km beneath the Lhasa and Himalaya terranes probably formed by partial melt and/or aqueous fluids.     

秦岭造山带及邻区上地壳精细速度结构研究

秦岭造山带是华北板块和扬子板块南北两个大陆边缘长期演化的产物,各部分性质和时代不同,是一个复杂的构造混杂体。由于其所处位置的重要性,演化时间上的长期性、多旋回性,空间上的多样性、变异性,一直是地质和地球物理学研究的热点。为了沟通该区复杂的浅表地质现象与深部结构成像,获取更精细的上地壳结构成为厘定秦岭造山带不同块体之间接触关系,揭示其地球动力学演化过程的关键。本文对一条长450 km、南北向跨越鄂尔多斯地块南缘、渭河地堑、秦岭造山带、大巴山逆冲推覆带和四川盆地北缘的宽角反射与折射地震剖面采集的15个大炮数据进行了层析成像研究。本研究对690个初至走时拾取数据使用有限差分算法,采用变网格尺度及平滑参数的迭代策略,经20次迭代反演,走时均方根误差降至0.105 s,收敛良好。成像结果精细刻画了渭河地堑的低速沉积特征,系一个南深北浅的断陷盆地,最深处可达7 km,其发育主要受秦岭北缘断裂、乾县—富平断裂及渭河断裂控制。秦岭北缘断裂与安康—竹山断裂之间的秦岭造山带上地壳呈高速特征,横向变化剧烈,仅残余若干较浅的山间盆地。与南部四川盆地稳定沉积相比,大巴山逆冲推覆带下方沉积层速度结构不统一,反映了逆冲推覆作用的改造,但整体仍保留了3~6 km的沉积厚度。本文分析认为剖面中部的秦岭地区是古生代—早中生代南北板块汇聚的核心地带,之后造山带两翼的南、北陆缘分别于燕山期和新生代转入逆冲推覆和伸展两种迥异的构造环境,而现今研究区的上地壳构造格局是三次事件叠加的结果。     

Petrology of Mantle Xenoliths from Harrat al Kishb: The Mantle beneath Western Saudi Arabia

Tertiary to Recent continental rifting and sea floor spreadingformed the Red Sea. Mantle xenoliths from the Saudi ArabianRed Sea margin provide an opportunity to study the mantle beneaththe flanks of this young ocean basin. The Harrat al Kishb mantlexenolith suite consists of Cr-diopside group spinel harzburgiteand lherzolite mantle wall rock, and a variety of pyroxenitesproduced by crystallization from mafic magmas within the mantle.The pyroxenites include two texturally distinct varieties ofCr-diopside group spinel websterites, and Al-augite group spinelpyroxenite, garnet-spinel websterite, and garnet-bearing spinelclinopyroxenite. All Harrat al Kishb xenoliths are deformedto some degree and many are recrystallized. Mineral exsolutionand zoning textures indicate reequilibration to decreasing temperatureconditions. Several xenoliths provide evidence for metasomaticprocesses in the mantle beneath western Saudi Arabia. Estimates of peridotite temperatures are 900–980?C withpressure bracketed between 13 and 19 kb. Al-augite spinel pyroxenitesyield temperatures of 1050–1070?C. Garnet-spinel websteritesyield temperatures and pressures in the range 1000–1030?C,13.8–16.5 kb. These P-T estimates show that mantle temperatures are elevatedwell above those predicted by low surface heat flow measurements.Mantle heating associated with rifting is young enough thatsurface heat flow has not yet equilibrated. The xenolith dataare consistent with a model of asthenosphere upwelling beneaththe Red Sea rift. Comparison of xenolith data with existingseismic refraction data reveals a coherent picture of the compositionof the western Saudi Arabian lithosphere.     

苏鲁造山带区域地壳山根结构特征

本利用苏鲁大别造山带及其邻区的三维P波速度资料,详细对比研究了苏鲁与大别超高压变质带莫霍面深度和深部P波速度结构分布特征。结果表明,尽管苏鲁、大别超高压变质带都具有上地壳明显高速且上凸;中地壳增厚;下地壳埋藏较深且下凹等共同的P波速度结构特征,与大别地区相比较,苏鲁超高压变质带还存在着独特的区域性特征。从地貌上看,苏鲁地区山脉已经基本消失。苏鲁超高压变质带的地壳厚度为32～33公里,深于其周围地区2～3公里,但是莫霍面下凹程度远不如大别地区,造山带地壳山根已逐步趋向消失。苏鲁地区上地壳P波速度高于大别,比其周围地区约快1～1．2km/s,有可能显示了该区有更多高速、高密度的超高压变质岩折返到上地壳与地表的岩石物性效果。大别造山带山脉依然存在,莫霍面下凹更明显,沿NWW向串状残留地壳山根最深为37～38公里,深于其周围地区3～4公里。对比研究结果表明,由于区域构造运动的作用,苏鲁大别造山带中的不同地段,在其造山、演化过程中也存在着差别。苏鲁的造山运动起始虽略晚于大别,但结束的更快,比大别更早进入了造山运动的后期。分析促使苏鲁造山运动进程加速的主要构造原因可能有两点,郯庐断裂带的左旋走滑运动以及通过中国华北区域的大范围NW-SE向扩张应力场的影响。大区域构造背景加速了苏鲁造山带地表高山侵蚀过程的同时,随着山根浮力的不断减弱,地壳深部山根逐渐趋向消失。地壳速度结构特征有可能反映了苏鲁造山带的地壳山根随着地表山脉的侵蚀而减弱,趋向消失的过程。     

Samarium-neodymium data on two late Proterozoic ophiolites of Saudi Arabia and implications for crustal and mantle evolution

Whole-rock and mineral samples from the Jabal al Wask and Jabal Ess ophiolites, northwestern Saudi Arabia, yield Sm-Nd isochron ages of 743+24 Ma and 782±38 Ma, respectively. These formation ages, which provide maximum limits for possible obduction ages, are in broad but not precise agreement with the previously known geologic history of the Arabian Shield. They indicate that the ophiolitic rocks are roughly coeval with nearby volcanic and plutonic rocks, supporting a back-arc origin for the two ophiolites. We suggest that the Jabal al Wask and Jabal Ess ophiolites were parts of the same northeast-southwest trending ophiolite belt, now offset along the Najd fault system. Initial _Nd values range from +6.6 to+ 7.6, indicating derivation from a mantle source that has been LIL-depleted for at least 2 Ga. Reported _Nd values from the Arabian Shield that are lower than this suggest the presence of older, reworked continental crust.     

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.     

青藏高原东部壳幔速度结构和地幔变形场的研究

在青藏高原东部地球动力学问题中,笔者在文中主要考虑与地壳上地幔速度结构和地幔变形场有关的问题,它涉及当前流行的下地壳流动模型和壳-幔的耦合-解耦模型。在2000年完成的穿过川西高原和四川盆地的深地震测深剖面,揭示了川西高原的地壳结构具有地壳增厚(主要是下地壳增厚)、地壳平均速度低等特点,显示地壳的缩短与增厚的碰撞变形特征。根据川西高原上设置各爆炸点的记录截面图共同呈现PmP(莫霍界面反射波)弱能量的特点,推断在川西高原的下地壳介质具有强衰减(Qp=100～300)的性质,支持存在下地壳流动的模型。青藏高原东部和川滇西部地区的上地幔各向异性(SKS波快波偏振方向和快慢波延迟时间)的初步结果表明,这两个地区的壳-幔变形特征是不同的,尽管它们在地理位置上属于同一个板块碰撞带。在青藏高原内部的壳幔变形属于垂直连贯变形,它以缩短为主,而高原外部的地壳(或岩石圈)则相对于其下方地幔运动。在高原内部和外部之间存在一个重要的地幔变形过渡带。然而,高原内部的垂直连贯变形与高原内部存在大范围下地壳流动的模型不一致。笔者在该地区开展了近两年的宽频带流动地震观测,试图从地震记录中确定过渡带的位置和探讨它的流变性质。文中扼要回顾已经取得的结果,并介绍正在进行的研究。     

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.     

Hydrogeology of Al-Lith Sabkha,Saudi Arabia

In Saudi Arabia, coastal sabkhas cover extensive areas along the coasts of the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf in addition to the continental sabkhas scattered in many places inland. Al-Lith sabkha is one of the typical coastal sabkhas located along the Red Sea coast. Sabkhas, in general, pose a number of geotechnical problems and need to be carefully investigated before being urbanized.A generalized geologic section in Al-Lith sabkha indicates a salty crust at the surface followed by yellowish brown silt and silty sand, olive gray silt and sandy silt and bottomed by coralline reefal limestone. Within this succession, there are several isolated lenticular bodies of sandy silt, silty sand and shelly silty sand. The clay minerals constituting the fine-grained portion of the soil are, in decreasing order, kaolinite, illite and montmorillonite in addition to minor chlorite.The depth to groundwater in 17 observation wells ranged from 0.18 to 1.81 m with a maximum fluctuation of 0.60 m between summer and winter. The permeability of the top silt layer was found to be very low with an average of 5.4×10⁻⁴ m/day. A pumping test was performed in a deep well penetrating the coralline limestone. The measured permeability is 1.1×10² m/day and the estimated storage coefficient is 4×10⁻⁵.Soil water evaporation was measured using a lysimeter constructed with undisturbed soil samples having different depths to the water level. The rate of evaporation ranges from 2.8 to 27.8 ml/day decreasing with an increase in depth to the water level.Groundwater samples were analyzed for their major anions and cations. Salt concentrations show a general increase toward the sea except for the calcium and carbonates that show a landward increase. The groundwater could be classified as a Cl+SO₄ brine. The salinity of the groundwater was determined at different depths in the pumping well and was found to be low in the top 4 m. It sharply increases until it reaches a value approximately 10 times the salinity of the top layer indicating groundwater intermixing with freshwater and salt-water intrusion. The change in the salinity during pumping was erratic but within a range of 2%.     

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.     

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.     

Karst Hazard Assessment of Eastern Saudi Arabia

Karst phenomena exist in areas in the eastern part of Saudi Arabia, forming solution features such as sinkholes, collapsed dolines and solution caverns, as a result of the chemical leaching of the carbonate and evaporite formations by percolating water. The instability of these karst phenomena could produce land subsidence problems. This paper reviews the geology of documented karstic rock units in Saudi Arabia and proposes a simple engineering classification of the solution features characteristic of limestone. Two case histories in the Dhahran area, eastern Saudi Arabia, will be used as examples for the application of a modified engineering classification.