Al Harrah, Saudi Arabia

Harrah region from the space shuttle.

Al Harrah is a large basaltic volcanic field in northwestern Saudi Arabia near the Jordanian border. It covers an area of 15,200 km2. The volcanic field forms the southern third of the massive Harrat Ash Shamah (also known as Harrat Ash Shaam) volcanic field, which extends from Syria through Jordan into northern Saudi Arabia. It is in Tabuk Region of Northwest Saudi Arabia.[1][2] It is 1660 m in height ASL[3] and one of a series of Quaternary volcanic fields paralleling the Red Sea coast.

The Saudi Arabian portion of the Harrat Ash Shamah volcanic field extends across a 210-km-long, roughly 75-km-wide NW-SE-trending area on the NE flanks of the Wadi Sirhan and reaches its 1100-metre high point at Jabal al Amud.

Activity began during the Miocene; a younger eruptive stage, at the SE end of the volcanic field, occurred during the late-Pleistocene and Holocene.[4] It is known to have erupted in historic times.[5][6] Vegetation is characteristically open acacia shrubland with patches of juniper bush at higher altitudes[7]

See also

Sources

Coordinates: 23°01′N 39°00′E / 23.017°N 39.000°E / 23.017; 39.000

References

  1. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper (U.S. Government Printing Office, 1989) pA152
  2. ↑ Geological Survey Professional Paper, Volume 560, Part 1 (U.S. Government Printing Office, 1989)
  3. ↑ "Harrat Ar Rahah Mountain Information". mountain-forecast.com. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
  4. ↑ H. Stewart Edgell, Arabian Deserts: Nature, Origin and Evolution (Springer Science & Business Media, 21Jul.,2006 ) p329-330
  5. ↑ pA153.
  6. ↑ Peter Vincent, Saudi Arabia: An Environmental Overview (CRC Press, 2008) p22.
  7. ↑ S.A. Ghazanfar, Vegetation of the Arabian Peninsula (Springer Science & Business Media, 1998) p 272.


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