Geology of the Arabian Peninsula: shield area of western Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Western Arabia lies within the low-latitude desert of north Africa and the Middle East, the core being the Arabian segment of the African Shield. The core of complex basement rocks accounts for about 670 000 km2, or one-third of the Arabian Peninsula. Reconnaissance mapping of these crystalline rocks, together with bordering sedimentary rocks and volcanic flows, begun in 1950, resulted during the next 13 years in a series of geologic and geographic maps without extensive texts. This publication describes the regional geology, structural framework and geological evolution of the area. -after Author