Geoheritage values of one of the largest maar craters in the Arabian Peninsula: the Al Wahbah Crater and other volcanoes (Harrat Kishb, Saudi Arabia)

Abstract

Al Wahbah Crater is one of the largest and deepest Quaternary maar craters in the Arabian Peninsula. It is NW-SE-elongated, ∼2.3 km wide, ∼250 m deep and surrounded by an irregular near-perpendicular crater wall cut deeply into the Proterozoic diorite basement. Very few scientific studies have been conducted on this unique site, especially in respect to understanding the associated volcanic eruption processes. Al Wahbah and adjacent large explosion craters are currently a research subject in an international project, Volcanic Risk in Saudi Arabia (VORiSA). The focus of VORiSA is to characterise the volcanic hazards and eruption mechanisms of the vast volcanic fields in Western Saudi Arabia, while also defining the unique volcanic features of this region for use in future geoconservation, geoeducation and geotourism projects. Al Wahbah is inferred to be a maar crater that formed due to an explosive interaction of magma and water. The crater is surrounded by a tephra ring that consists predominantly of base surge deposits accumulated over a pre-maar scoria cone and underlying multiple lava flow units. The tephra ring acted as an obstacle against younger lava flows that were diverted along the margin of the tephra ring creating unique lava flow surface textures that recorded inflation and deflation processes along the margin of the post-maar lava flow. Al Wahbah is a unique geological feature that is not only a dramatic landform but also a site that can promote our understanding of complex phreatomagmatic monogenetic volcanism. The complex geological features perfectly preserved at Al Wahbah makes this site as an excellent geotope and a potential centre of geoeducation programs that could lead to the establishment of a geopark in the broader area at the Kishb Volcanic Field.

Niche for high abundant extremophilic microbial communities in an ancient crater

“…Al Wahbah Mountain is 1105 m above sea level. Very few geological studies on Al Wahbah crater have been conducted (Grainger 1996;Moufti et al 2013;AbdelWahab et al 2014); however, all of them agreed that the crater was formed by explosive eruptions or volcanic explosions as a result of the interaction between magma and groundwater. Continuous volcanic eruptions resulted in phreatic activities that led to deposition of rocks, lava and debris around the crater and created multiple lava flows, the tuff ring, tephra ring, basement, dolerite plug, scoria cones and wall.…”

“…and 0.2 mm on average; Table S1) and subject to intense sunlight (incident irradiance of PAR was more than 1800 µmol photon m −2 s −1 ) and temperature varies between 20 and 35°C (in daytime) and 5-15°C (in night time) around the year. In addition, the nature of the flat floor allows prompt desertion to any rainfall, resulting in existence of shallow saline water producing salt pans and aeolian silt bars (Moufti et al 2013) that mimic extreme environments. Finally, this geotope is considered an ecosystem with a rich palaeo-environmental record that offer its sediments, especially the flat floor, as a potential source to provide a record to serve different sciences and fields.…”

“…But age of 1.147 ± 0.004 Ma is the best estimation time of Al Wahbah crater formed. The present study focused on the flat floored crater that hosts an ephemeral lake (Grainger 1996;Moufti et al 2013;AbdelWahab et al 2014). This location is occasionally exposed to heavy rainfall (32 mm max.…”

Toward smartphone applications for geoparksinformation and interpretation systems in China

“…It is vital to establish a comprehensive database in the protection and promotion of geoheritage [8]. Lushan Global Geopark created the first geopark Database in China in 2007.…”

“…The trend means that the multi-medias increasingly impact the way of knowledge information spreading. The tourism authorities can build a local access road to help tourists discover a virgin geopark [8], further more they can build the information access road. Overall, Geoconservation, geohistory, geo-interpretation, and geoeducation are key underpinning elements of geotourism which are never separated programs [1,8].…”