233:, limestone-quartz terrace gravel deposited in Wadi al Batin, occurring 60 to 90 kilometers north of the Trans-Arabian Pipeline. Sheet gravel blankets the Ad Dibdibah Plain, with quartz, carbonate and metamorphic rock grains spanning into Iraq and Kuwait. Al Harrah lava field basalt pebbles make up most of the gravel in the As Sahn Plain. Deltaic sheet gravels are also common in Wadi as Sahba-Wadi and Dawasir-Wadi Najran. In the Al Aramah and Hit escarpment are dissected, older limestone gravels. An Nafud and Ar Rub al Khali have silt, gravel, sabkha, unconsolidated sands and coral limestone from the geologically recent past. Half of Saudi Arabia with sedimentary cover is blanketed in eolian sands, covering an area of 600,000 square kilometers. Lake beds outcrop in the Rub al Khali while marine terraces are common along the Persian Gulf.
245:
970:
980:
191:
The unit formation is overlain by the early Eocene Rus
Formation, named for Umm ar Ru'us. Originally known as the Chalky Zone, it was renamed in 1946. It occurs only a few places, extending 180 kilometers north of Wadi as Sahba and occupying the breached center of the Dammam Dome. Chalk and limestone
213:
gravels form patches in the Wadi Nayyal and Wadi as Sahba. The round quartz pebbles can reach 10 centimeters in diameter, often accompanied by limestone pebbles. In the past, a river may have crossed the Al Aramah escarpment via the Wadi as Sahba structural trench. At the northwest edge of Harrat
208:
Groundwater conditions vary widely within
Cenozoic units. Al Hasa and Al Qatif are examples of oases, fed by artesian wells. Al Fufuf has a well-developed Miocene-Pliocene aquifer, likely fed in part by an underlying Eocene aquifer. Neogene groundwater supplies other scattered locations in the
204:
sediments and occurs in larger areas near the border with Qatar and in a five kilometer wide, 180 kilometer long belt from Wadi as Sahba. The marl, limestone and shale units taken together do store groundwater and communities in the
Eastern Province often draw on the Alat aquifer in the Khobar
183:
commonly forms in the uplands along with river channels. Northwest of Al Batin, the rock has very poor internal drainage. Drilling revealed two monocline structures were related to the dissolution and collapse of anhydrite layers. Dolomite, limestone and chert with some fossiliferous units are
225:
dikes formed during the
Miocene, Pliocene and early Quaternary, spanning 250 kilometers to the northwest from Ath Thayat into Jordan. In the northwest, duricrust carapace is particularly common on Paleozoic and Mesozoic units due to greater moisture.
158:
For the most part, Middle
Cretaceous rocks include thick sandstone, although some marine rocks are present to the north and Jordan. A combined sequence of 500 m (1,600 ft) of limestone and dolomite spans the Cretaceous into the Paleogene.
192:
ascend to gypsum-bearing and calcareous shale. Coastal Saudi Arabia was only submerged briefly in the
Cenozoic, limiting marine deposition, although the few Miocene and Pliocene marine rock are divided into the Dam, Hofuf and Hadrukh formations.
154:
age
Jubaila Limestone contains the high productivity Arab-D member in the Ghawar oil field and a 1.1 km (0.68 mi)-long sequence of aphanitic and calcarenite limestone. It often weathers to prominent scarps without talus.
195:
The early and middle Eocene Damman
Formation is named for the Dammam Dome and includes basal marl, limestone and dolomite as well as the Saila Shale Member. It is exposed above the Umm er Rhaduma but largely overlapped by
137:
begins with the Khuff
Formation shallow water limestone and ascends through 500 m (1,600 ft) of Jurassic shelf limestone and marine shale, overlain by fossil-rich rocks from the late Jurassic and early
179:. It is visible in the walls of Wadi al Batin and overlies the dolomite and limestone of the Aruma Formation. The formation spans 1200 kilometers from Wadi Jabaliyah to the Iraq-Saudi Arabia border.
89:
Within these younger rocks, a large western facing escarpment formed in central Saudi Arabia, capped with limestone. Basement rock dips away from the escarpment with thicker sediments in the
333:
412:
376:
Cantrell, Dave L. (2006). "Cortical fabrics of Upper
Jurassic ooids, Arab Formation, Saudi Arabia: Implications for original carbonate mineralogy".
935:
218:
fossils from a freshwater environment, inferred to be from the Pliocene. Small, similar deposits are scattered across the Rub al Khali.
452:
Wilson, Augustus O. (1985). "Depositional and Diagenetic Facies in the Jurassic Arab-C and -D Reservoirs, Qatif Field, Saudi Arabia".
142:. Jurassic rocks form much of the escarpment in central Saudi Arabia, although discontinuous sedimentation led to the deposition of
221:
The Al Harrah volcanic complex is the only eruptive feature in the sediment-covered areas of Saudi Arabia. Its olivine basalt and
884:
945:
469:
609:
859:
184:
particularly common. Dissolved hydrogen gas renders water from the unit poor quality near Ras Tenura, Abqaiq and Nariya.
150:. The alternating layers of the Arab Formation took shape during the time and hold extensive oil and gas resources. The
263:
355:
904:
268:
1004:
27:
igneous and metamorphic basement rocks, exposed across much of the country. Thick sedimentary sequences from the
694:
940:
899:
804:
258:
909:
626:
602:
109:
rocks are exposed in the northwest, with the lowest 600 m (2,000 ft) correlated with the
854:
774:
744:
739:
634:
511:"Hydrogeology of the Umm Er Radhuma aquifer, Saudi Arabia, with reference to fossil gradients"
864:
839:
754:
734:
684:
654:
644:
950:
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824:
704:
385:
8:
924:
894:
844:
799:
779:
769:
669:
595:
250:
413:"Genesis and characterization of dolomite, Arab-D reservoir, Ghawar field, Saudi Arabia"
389:
869:
784:
764:
649:
639:
530:
434:
167:
The Umm er Rhaduma Formation, named by S.B. Henry and C.W. Brown in 1935 is the oldest
113:
in Jordan. The top 300 m (980 ft) is limestone, although most units from the
979:
914:
849:
814:
749:
729:
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679:
664:
659:
534:
465:
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290:
273:
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90:
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759:
714:
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618:
461:
397:
278:
40:
283:
572:
78:
Arabian Craton. Up to 5.5 km (3.4 mi) of sedimentary rocks from the
998:
973:
560:
350:
548:
490:
429:
313:
185:
151:
94:
67:
20:
478:
983:
143:
75:
71:
28:
24:
312:
Powers, R.W.; Ramirez, Leon F.; Redmond, C.D.; Elberg, E.L. Jr. (1963).
230:
139:
114:
315:
Geology of the Arabian Peninsula: Sedimentary Geology of Saudi Arabia
215:
210:
172:
147:
106:
44:
36:
32:
201:
168:
134:
122:
118:
110:
83:
79:
587:
197:
214:
Hutaym are marl, sandstone and basal conglomerate deposits with
222:
188:
developed the unit to supply water to its outlying operations.
176:
62:
180:
86:
accumulated on the shield, including many oil-bearing units.
48:
52:
578:
566:
554:
496:
484:
334:"Microporosity in Arab Formation Carbonates, Saudi Arabia"
311:
162:
515:
Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology
56:
100:
411:
Hagerty, Royal; Swart, Peter; Cantrell, David (2004).
128:
509:
Bakiewicz, W.; Milne, D. M.; Noori, M. (1 May 1982).
332:
Cantrell, Dave L.; Hagerty, Royal M. (1 April 1999).
410:
240:
508:
55:) dominate much of the country's surface and host
456:. Casebooks in Earth Sciences. pp. 319–340.
996:
331:
603:
63:Geologic history, stratigraphy and tectonics
171:sedimentary unit in Saudi Arabia, from the
610:
596:
428:
349:
375:
163:Cenozoic (66 million years ago-present)
997:
544:– via qjegh.lyellcollection.org.
451:
591:
229:In the last 2.5 million years of the
101:Paleozoic (539-251 million years ago)
74:igneous and metamorphic rocks of the
125:are terrestrial sandstone or shale.
617:
129:Mesozoic (251-66 million years ago)
13:
264:Mountains in the Arabian Peninsula
14:
1016:
269:List of volcanoes in Saudi Arabia
978:
969:
968:
243:
527:10.1144/GSL.QJEG.1982.015.02.03
936:British Indian Ocean Territory
502:
454:Carbonate Petroleum Reservoirs
445:
404:
369:
325:
305:
1:
298:
462:10.1007/978-1-4612-5040-1_21
398:10.1016/j.sedgeo.2005.11.015
7:
236:
105:2 km (1.2 mi) of
10:
1021:
964:
923:
883:
625:
259:Geography of Saudi Arabia
685:East Timor (Timor-Leste)
351:10.2113/geoarabia0402129
1005:Geology of Saudi Arabia
946:Cocos (Keeling) Islands
430:10.2113/geoarabia090211
321:. USGS. pp. D1–D2.
860:United Arab Emirates
581:, pp. D99–D100.
70:is underlain by the
887:limited recognition
569:, pp. D98–D99.
557:, pp. D87–D92.
499:, pp. D84–D86.
390:2006SedG..186..157C
378:Sedimentary Geology
251:Saudi Arabia portal
579:Powers et al. 1963
567:Powers et al. 1963
555:Powers et al. 1963
497:Powers et al. 1963
485:Powers et al. 1963
209:Eastern Province.
992:
991:
929:other territories
487:, pp. D1–D2.
471:978-1-4612-9536-5
291:Shammar Mountains
274:Sarawat Mountains
1012:
982:
972:
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941:Christmas Island
627:Sovereign states
619:Geology of Asia
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384:(3–4): 157–170.
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354:. Archived from
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1020:
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279:Hijaz Mountains
249:
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592:
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571:
559:
547:
521:(2): 105–126.
501:
489:
477:
470:
444:
403:
368:
344:(2): 129–154.
324:
303:
302:
300:
297:
296:
295:
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288:
287:
286:
284:Asir Mountains
281:
271:
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238:
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164:
161:
130:
127:
102:
99:
64:
61:
9:
6:
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3:
2:
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1000:
985:
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942:
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937:
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910:South Ossetia
908:
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379:
372:
358:on 2018-11-04
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308:
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234:
232:
227:
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219:
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212:
206:
203:
199:
193:
189:
187:
182:
178:
175:to the early
174:
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156:
153:
149:
145:
141:
136:
126:
124:
120:
116:
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98:
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91:Rub' al Khali
87:
85:
81:
77:
73:
69:
60:
58:
54:
50:
46:
42:
38:
34:
30:
26:
22:
19:
925:Dependencies
855:Turkmenistan
820:Saudi Arabia
819:
574:
562:
550:
538:. Retrieved
518:
514:
504:
492:
480:
453:
447:
423:(2): 11–36.
420:
416:
406:
381:
377:
371:
360:. Retrieved
356:the original
341:
337:
327:
314:
307:
228:
220:
207:
194:
190:
186:Saudi Aramco
166:
157:
152:Kimmeridgian
132:
104:
95:Persian Gulf
88:
82:through the
68:Saudi Arabia
66:
21:Saudi Arabia
17:
15:
984:Asia portal
885:States with
805:Philippines
745:South Korea
740:North Korea
635:Afghanistan
144:calcarenite
76:Proterozoic
72:Precambrian
31:(including
29:Phanerozoic
25:Precambrian
865:Uzbekistan
840:Tajikistan
755:Kyrgyzstan
735:Kazakhstan
655:Bangladesh
645:Azerbaijan
540:4 November
362:2018-11-02
299:References
231:Quaternary
140:Cretaceous
115:Ordovician
18:geology of
951:Hong Kong
905:Palestine
830:Sri Lanka
825:Singapore
705:Indonesia
535:129784170
439:133683056
417:GeoArabia
338:GeoArabia
216:ostracode
211:Paleogene
173:Paleocene
148:anhydrite
107:Paleozoic
45:limestone
37:anhydrite
33:sandstone
23:includes
999:Category
974:Category
895:Abkhazia
845:Thailand
800:Pakistan
780:Mongolia
775:Maldives
770:Malaysia
670:Cambodia
237:See also
205:Member.
202:Pliocene
169:Cenozoic
135:Triassic
123:Devonian
119:Silurian
111:Cambrian
97:region.
93:and the
84:Pliocene
80:Cambrian
41:dolomite
870:Vietnam
785:Myanmar
765:Lebanon
695:Georgia
650:Bahrain
640:Armenia
386:Bibcode
198:Miocene
915:Taiwan
850:Turkey
815:Russia
750:Kuwait
730:Jordan
720:Israel
680:Cyprus
665:Brunei
660:Bhutan
533:
468:
437:
223:aplite
177:Eocene
956:Macau
875:Yemen
835:Syria
810:Qatar
790:Nepal
725:Japan
700:India
690:Egypt
675:China
531:S2CID
435:S2CID
319:(PDF)
181:Karst
49:chert
795:Oman
760:Laos
715:Iraq
710:Iran
542:2018
466:ISBN
200:and
146:and
133:The
121:and
53:marl
51:and
16:The
927:and
523:doi
458:doi
425:doi
394:doi
382:186
346:doi
57:oil
1001::
529:.
519:15
517:.
513:.
464:.
433:.
419:.
415:.
392:.
380:.
340:.
336:.
117:,
59:.
47:,
43:,
39:,
35:,
611:e
604:t
597:v
525::
474:.
460::
441:.
427::
421:9
400:.
396::
388::
365:.
348::
342:4
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