Geoheritage of Volcanic Harrats in Saudi Arabia

Geoconservation and geoeducation projects are increasingly popular in many volcanic fields on Earth (Doniz-Paez et al. 2011; El Hadi et al. 2011; Erfurt-Cooper 2011; Ghazi et al. 2013; Guijon et al. 2011; Henriques and Neto 2015; Kwon 2013; Moufti and Nemeth 2013; Moufti et al. 2013; Sang 2014).

In this chapter the intraplate volcanic fields of the Arabian Peninsula will be presented in a global context through comparison with other intraplate volcanic fields, focusing on those with special relevance to known and/or planned geoheritage, geoconservation and geotouristic programs and geoparks.

Harrat Rahat is a volcanic field that consists of over 500 individual volcanoes (Fig. 3.1), many of them with multiple vents forming compound edifices (Camp and Roobol 1989; Coleman and Gregory 1983; El Difrawy et al. 2013; Moufti et al. 2013a). Harrat Rahat was formed over the past 10 million of years (Moufti et al. 2013a), and it is still considered to be an active volcanic region as it has had at least two historic eruptions (Camp et al. 1987; Moufti et al. 2013a). The volcanic field consists of extensive lava fields (Murcia et al. 2014) and various types of volcanic cones and explosion craters (Camp et al. 1991; El Difrawy et al. 2013; Moufti and Hashad 2005; Moufti et al. 2011), each of them is perfectly exposed due to the arid climate and lack of vegetation, and many of them are relatively easy to access (Fig. 3.2). The field is located nearby one of the holiest cities of Islam—Al Madinah—and also hosts the youngest volcanoes in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which have historical and cultural significance (Fig. 3.1). Harrat Al Madinah is the northern part of the Harrat Rahat and the best studied in the Harrat Rahat. The distinction between Harrat Rahat and Harrat Al Madinah is loosely constrained and it has a traditional and geographic connotation rather than geological reasoning. In a similar way, different parts of Harrat Rahat have local names that refer to nearby settlements or other geographical features.

Other than the intensive volcanological and geoheritage studies on Harrat Rahat (Moufti and Németh 2013; Moufti et al. 2013b; Murcia et al. 2014, 2015), only preliminary research has been done to document the volcanic geoheritage value of harrats in western Saudi Arabia.

Western Saudi Arabia is the home of extensive volcanic fields with hundreds of well-preserved volcanic landforms (Camp and Roobol 1989a; Camp et al. 1991; Camp and Roobol 1992; Camp et al. 1992; Alwelaie 1994; Bosworth et al. 2005).