Abstract
ABSTRACT Geohazards play an important role in land development and have serious impacts if not considered at early planning stages. Identification of potential geohazards, assessment of their likelihood and severity is a complex task that requires integration of various information through a multi-disciplinary approach. An introductory level assessment of potential geohazards in Saudi Arabia with compilation and interpretation of publicly available data using geographic information system tools is presented in this study. The outcome is a geohazard map presenting reported and predicted geohazards including tectonics and volcanism, rock subsidence, expansive and collapsible soils and slope instability, which summarize all available information for further interpretation. The 1:2.500.000 scale composite geohazard main map provides a valuable tool for initial assessment and review in early planning stages of land development projects.
Highlights
KEYWORDS Geohazard assessment; Saudi Arabia; subsidence; slope instability; expansive and collapsible soils. For those involved with land development, knowledge of current or potential geohazards is a critical part of the assessment for site suitability
Stage 2: Incorporation of publicly available digital spatial data Available vector data in public domain was added to the base map along with digital elevation model (DEM) from Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) data obtained from the US Geological Survey (USGS) website
A series of introductory geohazard maps for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have been created for selected geohazards with publicly available data and information to provide an updated base document for use as an initial reference for early planning stages of future studies
Summary
For those involved with land development, knowledge of current or potential geohazards is a critical part of the assessment for site suitability. Inland sabkha formed within inter-dunal depressions are located predominately in the south east of the country within the Rub’ al-khali close to the borders with Sultanate of Oman, the United Arab Emirates, State of Qatar and isolated pockets north of Makkah in the west of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Al-Dakheel, Hussein, Mahmoudi, & Massoud, 2009; Matter, Neubert, Preusser, Rosenberg, & Al-Wagdani, 2015). Geological units including the Rus, Dammam, Hadrukh, Dam and Hofuf formations have been found to contain water expansive clay minerals (Abduljauwad, 1991; Aiban, 2006) and in the central western part of Saudi Arabia around Medina, soils were found to contain smectite (Okasha & Abduljauwad, 1992). The presence of loess has been shown to occur in the northern part of the Kingdom around Tabouk by Amin and Bankher (1997)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
