Abdulrahman Alsharhan

• PhD in petroleum geology
• Middle East Geological and Environmental EST.

The Aptian Lower Shuaiba Formation in the United Arab Emirates is characterized by four shallow-water carbonate lithological units: (a) thinly bedded argillaceous pellet- and foram-rich lime mudstones; (b) heavily bioturbated packstones and poorly washed grainstones rich in aragonitic bioclastic grains, pellets and intraclasts; (c) poorly bioturbat...

Call for Papers — Special Issue in Asian Earth Science Journal Petroleum geology of Middle East, Eastern Mediterranean, and Adjacent regions

This chapter summarizes the book ten parts. Part one provides an overview of global water resources. Part two discusses the impact geomorphology on surface water resources and influence of geology on groundwater. Part three describes the main features of the UAE climate and illustrates the impacts of global warming and climate change on water resou...

Rizk and Alsharhan (Geographic information system modeling of groundwater potentiality in the northeastern part of the United Arab Emirates. In: Alsharhan AS, Wood WW, Goude AS, Fowler A, Abdellatif EM (eds) Desertification in the third millennium. Balkema, Lisse, pp 423–434, 2003a) reported that they used: “The ArcView GIS 3.2 package to construct...

The eastern and western gravel aquifers comprise the largest groundwater reservoirs of acceptable quality in the UAE, and their water is used for domestic, agricultural and industrial purposes in the eastern coastal region. However, excessive groundwater pumping has dramatically lowered groundwater levels, deteriorated water quality and caused intr...

The UAE has very limited conventional water resources represented by groundwater, aflaj systems, natural springs and seasonal floods. These resources fall short to meet the escalating water demands of all sectors. Therefore, in addition to conventional resources, the UAE started reliance on desalinated water and treated wastewater as nonconventiona...

This chapter is based mainly on the UAE Ministry of Energy of Environment and Water’s reports on water-conservation strategy and the state of environment (MOEW Water conservation strategy. Ministry of Environment and Water, United Arab Emirates, p 212, 2010; MEOW State of environment report. Ministry of Environment and Water, United Arab Emirates,...

This chapter is mainly based on the work of Rizk (Inorganic chemicals in domestic water of the United Arab Emirates Zeinelabidin S. Rizk, Environ Geochem Health 31:27–45, 2009) that addresses inorganic chemicals in the domestic water of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The following discussion is based on the results of chemical analyses of inorgani...

Karstic nature and unconfinement are the main factors making fresh groundwater resources in the UAE susceptible to receiving a large flux of contaminants from point and nonpoint sources on the land surface.

Geologic conditions govern the distribution of aquifers and confining units and their outcrops, while geomorphic features control the directions of surface-water flow. Usually any stratigraphic sequence can be differentiated into aquifers, aquitards, aquicludes and aquifuges. Geologic conditions also control the distribution of structural belts, wh...

The oceans are the Earth’s primary conventional storage body for water, including the Antarctic, Arctic and glaciers of high mountain peaks. The groundwater represents 29.9%, and only 0.26% of the total freshwater is stored in lakes, rivers and reservoirs while 0.94% is soil moisture. The water available for direct human use comprises 96.80% ground...

This chapter discusses the hydrogeology, hydrochemistry and the therapeutic value of permanent UAE springs, e.g., Khatt (Ras Al Khaimah), Maddab (Fujairah) and Bu Sukhanah (Abu Dhabi). The springs are controlled by geologic structures, discharge of various rock types and their location at particular elevations.

The Semail ophiolite rocks represent a low-productivity aquifer in the eastern and northeastern UAE. But, it can function as a good aquifer where it is faulted, fractured and jointed. The aquifer’s average transmissivity and specific yield are 776 m²/d and 0.24, respectively.

The remote-sensing (RS) technique, uniformity coefficient (Cu) and infiltration capacity (Ic) were used for the classification of Quaternary clastic sediments southwest of Al Ain City, eastern UAE. About 75 sand and gravel samples were collected from sand dunes and interdune areas for grain-size analysis and hydraulic-conductivity measurement. Meas...

The Limestone aquifers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are the northern limestone aquifer of the Wadi Al Bih basin in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, Dammam limestone aquifer in Jabal Hafit south of Al Ain City and limestone aquifers in the western region of Abu Dhabi Emirate.

The western gravel aquifer grades into the Quaternary sand aquifer without the possibility of defining a boundary between the two aquifers in many areas. This chapter deals with the geologic setting, hydrogeology, water chemistry and isotope hydrology of both water-bearing units as a single aquifer, called a “sand-and-gravel aquifer system” by the...

This chapter discusses the evolution of water desalination in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), analyzes the environmental challenges associated with the desalination industry and proposes solutions for the alleviation of desalination-related problems.

This chapter discusses the problems facing conventional water resources, including surface water and groundwater. The surface-water sources are seasonal floods, permanent springs and aflaj systems, while the groundwater resources are stored in various aquifers all over the country. The chapter also deals with the problems facing non-conventional wa...

The UAE is an arid country with scare rainfall (mean annual rainfall = 119 mm), high temperatures (>45 °C), high evaporation rates (mean annual evaporation = 3322 mm), irregular floods (≈120 Mm³/year) and a lack of permanent surface-water resources, such as rivers or lakes. Because of its limited conventional water resources, the UAE has utilized w...

The mean annual temperature is 25 °C, with slightly cooler temperatures in the eastern mountains. The mean monthly relative humidity over UAE is around 60% during winter and around 50% during summer, varying between 46% in May to 64% in December. The two wind systems affecting the UAE are the winter “Shamal” winds, which affect the western coast, a...

This chapter investigates the hydrogeology and hydrogeochemistry of the “Liwa Quaternary sand aquifer” in the western UAE. The results of an investigation uncovered the presence of a fresh groundwater lens south of the Bu Hasa Oil Field. A similar aquifer is already known to exist in the area between Madinat Zayed and Liwa Oasis. The aquifers in bo...

“Aflaj” systems are man-made tunnels or channels that intercept groundwater or base flow at the foothills of high mountains and channel it to land surfaces at a lower altitude, without any mechanical means, mainly for irrigation purposes. The objective of this chapter is to discuss the history of aflaj systems and the factors affecting their rechar...

Rainfall records at eight meteorological stations around Al Ain City indicate that most rain falls during the period between February and March, In addition, there are four- to five-year cycles with above-average rainfall, and the median rainfall in Al Ain is 76.1 mm/year, above which flood peaks are expected and below which drought seasons are pre...

To conserve flood water, the Emiratis have practiced surface-water harvesting for hundreds of years for agricultural and domestic purposes. They have built barriers, open or covered “berkas” (ponds) and “habisas”. Starting in the 1980s, the government has built more than 130 groundwater-recharge dams capable of storing 120 m3 and is planning to bui...

Irrigated agriculture consumes 60% of water resources in the UAE. As groundwater is the main source of irrigation water, exploitation of aquifer systems in excess of natural recharge has led to serious depletion and salinity problems. Biosaline agriculture might contribute to integrated water-resource management because it enables the use of two ma...

The climate, geology and hydraulic properties were used to analyze the hydrogeologic characteristics of the Wadi Al Bih limestone aquifer, hydraulic head configuration and aquifer boundaries. The groundwater- flow model for the Wadi Al Bih limestone aquifer, presented in this chapter utilized the data gathered by Al Wahedi (Application of hydrogeoc...

To ease pressures on expensive desalinated water and depleting groundwater, treated wastewater represents an ideal candidate as an additional, renewable supply of nonconventional water. The usage of this water can also reduce pollution of aquatic and terrestrial environments. The UAE uses reclaimed wastewater in landscaping, irrigation of public pa...

This study is a trial to understand the mechanisms of groundwater recharge in the sand dunes and gravel plains, which cover about 80% of the surface area of the UAE. The study indicated that the percentage of runoff from rainfall is 18% in the northern Oman Mountains and 3% in the Jabal Hafit area.

The stable isotopes deuterium (²H) and oxygen-18 (¹⁸O) and radioactive isotopes tritium (³H) and carbon-14 (¹⁴C) in rain and groundwater were used to characterize precipitation, determine the origin and age of groundwater, identify the source of increasing groundwater salinity and assess groundwater pollution in Bu Hasa and Liwa areas, in western U...

This book provides an inventory of water resources, describes water challenges, and suggests methodologies and technologies for integrated water resources management in the UAE. It also summarizes efforts of water conservation and management, and modern approaches for improvement of water resources management and decision-making related to this val...

Major global events during the Oligocene epoch included a climatic change from warm “greenhouse” to a cooler “icehouse” that was accompanied by the onset of Antarctic glaciation. These events led to decline in water temperature, salinity, nutrient supply and oxygen levels, and the extinction of some major fauna and flora. Within the study area, dur...

Sedimentary features that characterize the coastline of Abu Dhabi include beach ridges, sabkha flats, algal mats, and mangroves associated with carbonate-evaporites that are tied field descriptions, photography, and satellite imagery. Knowledge of the facies content and geometries of these bodies is intended for as analogs of similar features recog...

The United Arab Emirates is located on the stable Arabian foreland of the Arabian plate and is separated from the unstable Iranian fold belt by the Arabian Gulf. During the Late Paleozoic (Upper Permian) to the Cenozoic (Tertiary) Eras the vast Arabian platform lay along the southern margin of the Tethys Ocean. During this period epeiric shelf carb...

Kuwait has proven oil reserves and production from supergiant and giant fields that include the Greater Burgan (Burgan, Ahmadi, and Maqwa), Raudhatain, Sabriya, and Minagish fields. These fields are associated with very gentle oval anticlines interpreted as drape structures over deep-seated fault scarps or as growth structures related to halokinesi...

Since the start of the twentieth century more than 550 commercially significant oil and gas fields have been discovered in the Middle East. Most of the fields have more than one pay zone and produce from shallow-water carbonates and clastics that range in age from Infracambrian to Oligo-Miocene. A providential juxtaposition of source-reservoir-seal...

This book is part of the International Association of Sedimentologists (IAS) Special Publications. The Special Publications from the IAS are a set of thematic volumes edited by specialists on subjects of central interest to sedimentologists. Papers are reviewed and printed to the same high standards as those published in the journal Sedimentology a...

Douglas James Shearman (1918-2003) used his imagination to extend our understanding of the sabkha evaporites of the Arabian Gulf, and their use as analogues for evaporites that are now associated worldwide with hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation. His work on the Holocene carbonates and evaporites of the southern coast of the Arabian Gulf has...

The low-latitude coastal sediments of the United Arab Emirates accumulate adjacent tothe gently sloping ramp-like bathymetry of the southern Arabian Gulf. Here, an extensivearid coastline system is expressed by a variety of different shallow carbonate andevaporite depositional settings. Off the western Abu Dhabi mainland coast, flanking thenorth an...

There are no previously published granulometric studies of the sediments from the coastal areas of the UAE. In this study one hundred and forty-four beach sediment samples were collected from coastal districts of seven emirates (Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al-Quwain, Ras Al-Khaimah and Fujairah) for the purposes of grain size analysis and...

Some 180 core and cuttings samples of shales and limestones from the Middle Jurassic – Late Cretaceous succession (Khatatba, Masajid, Alam El-Bueib, Alamein, Kharita, Bahariya and Abu Roash Formations) were collected from wells Ja 27–2, Tarek-1 and Jb 26–1 in the central, structurally-low part of the Shushan Basin and from well Lotus-1 in the struc...

The Permain to Holocene sediments of the United Arab Emirates consist mainly of epeiric shelf carbonates, associated with minor clastics and evaporites, reflecting major cycles of transgression and regression. These were deposited on the eastern margin of the Arabian Sheild, which lay along the southern margin of the Tethys Ocean during the Mesozoi...

This paper is a review of the standard stratigraphic column accepted by many workers for the Lower Cretaceous (Berriasian-Aptian) of the Arabian Gulf. Type sections, synonymy and summary paleontological details are included. A historical introduction provides an explanation of the profusion of formational and member names. The observed fades variat...

Regional brines that underlie the potable groundwater appear to be responsible for the increase in dissolved solids in the Wadi Al Bih aquifer in the Ras Al Khaimah Emirate, United Arab Emirates. In this karstic carbonate aquifer, groundwater extraction exceeds recharge and the reduced heads can induce transport of underlying brines into the potabl...

The Middle Permian to Early Triassic Khuff Formation occurs in the subsurface of the United Arab Emirates at depths that range from 3,688–6,188 m (12,097–20,297 ft) in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and as outcrops in mountainous areas of the northern United Arab Emirates. The formation consists of a shallow-water carbonates that include limestones, dolomiti...

Triassic strata of the northern part of the Arabian plate mark the establishment of the Neo-Tethys passive margin. This ocean first opened in the western part of the Mediterranean region directly after the Hercynian orogeny. The strata were deposited on a shallow carbonate platform surrounded by clastic-evaporitic lagoons and continental fluvial an...

The United Arab Emirates rely on non-conventional water resources, in addition to conventional resources, to meet the ever-increasing demands for water. Conventional water resources include seasonal floods, springs, falajes and groundwater. Non-conventional resources are the desalinated water and treated-sewage water. The existing conventional wate...

Examination of an aquifer system in the Liwa Crescent/Bu Hasa area of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi on the southeastern edge of the Rub al Khali, Arabian sub-continent, provides insight into the timing of ground-water recharge and the origin and evolution of solutes in a representative hyperarid area. Ground-water flow in the aquifer system is radially...

The Albian-Cenomanian Mauddud Formation extends over most parts of the Arabian basin including north Iraq. The formation consists mainly of Orbitolina-bearing limestone with local basin margin rudist buildups in the offshore North field of Qatar and northeast Iraq. Extensive dolomitization, with wide variations in both extent and texture, has been...

The Holocene sediments of the coast of the United Arab Emirates in the southeastern Arabian Gulf are frequently cited in the literature as type examples for analogous assemblages of carbonates, evaporites and siliciclastics throughout the geologic record. This paper is intended as a convenient single source for the description of sediments of this...

Digitized grid maps on the hydrogeology, groundwater chemistry and quality, soil classification, geologic structures and drainage lines, were used along with the ArcView GIS 3.2 package to construct an analytical GIS groundwater-potential model for the Al Dhaid area, in the eastern part of al Sharjah Emirate, United Arab Emirates. Cross-correlation...

This paper presents a case study of 10-years of satellite data relating the atmospheric and land surface variables to the desertification in the United Arab Emirates. These studies demonstrate the usefulness of long-term, spatially continuous data sets for studies in the field of global warming. The analysis of the data between 1989 to 1999 shows t...

At 240 N, the U.A.E. has an arid, subtropical climate, with an annual temperature range 50 to 0 °C. This causes a widespread occurrence of carbonates and evaporites, and the restricted character of the vegetation, though diurnal dews, associated with onshore late afternoon and evening winds, support vegetation on dunes at the shoreline and near sho...

The Gulf of Suez in Egypt has a north-northwest-south-southeast orientation and is located at the junction of the African and Arabian plates where it separates the northeast African continent from the Sinai Peninsula. It has excellent hydrocarbon potential, with the prospective sedimentary basin area measuring approximately 19,000 km2, and it is co...

Well-exposed, fine-grained to pebbly coarse-grained fluvial sandstones of Late Miocene to Pleistocene age crop out in the south-central and south-western parts of Qatar. These sandstones belong to the Hofuf Formation and were deposited largely in stream channels along Wadi As-Sahba over a distance of 450 kms. The graben structure of Wadi As-Sahba r...

Groundwater in the Arabian Peninsula is found in thick, high-yield aquifers within the large sedimentary basins to the north, east, and south of the Arabian Shield. Minor amounts of groundwater occur in fractured igneous and metamorphic rocks, which provide extensive and permeable areas for surface runoff and shallow wadi underflow. Geological stru...

The Arabian Peninsula is located in the southwest Asia with a population of 49 million and occupies approximately 3,003,200 km2. The Arabian Peninsula includes the political units of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, and Oman. The Gulf States are characterized by high evaporation rates and scarce rainfall. The co...

The Arabian Peninsula lies between latitudes 13° and 32° N and longitudes 35° and 60° E. It forms a part of the great desert belt, which stretches from the Atlantic Ocean, near the coast of northwestern Africa, to the Thar Desert of northwestern India. The Arabian Peninsula—a southwestern projection of Asia—is separated from Africa by the Red Sea,...

This chapter presents a study that focuses on the Cenozoic system, because this highly transmissive aquifer is the most productive in the area and underlies the entire Eastern Arabian basin. The Cenozoic hydrogeological system can be divided into two distinct systems: (1) multilayer system and (2) fresh-water lenses system. The Arabian Peninsula hy...

Despite the dry arid climate and lack of permanent rivers in Arabia, springs provide reasonable amount of water that are used for various purposes. Springs have been historically important sources of water for Arabia since early historic times. Some of these springs were known to occur at the time of Prophet Ibrahim or even earlier. Most of the set...

The Arabian Peninsula has an area of around 3,003,200 km2. Its boundaries to the west, southwest, and south are formed by tensional structures, the shear faults, and grabens of the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, and the Gulf of Aqaba—Dead Sea rifts. The boundaries to the north and northeast are defined by the compressional features associated with the...

This chapter presents Islamic laws applied to water and summarizes the legal situation in the Gulf States. Under Islamic law, water is a human right to which no one can be denied access provided it occasions no harm to others. Under the constitution of the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf states no legal measure can be promulgated that contraven...

Much effort in recent years has been devoted to developing predictive models of groundwater flow and solute transport as a tool in ground-water assessment. The computer program developed by the U.S. Geological Survey has been applied in the Wadi al Bih area of the United Arab Emirates. The Wadi al Bih aquifer represents the only source of water for...

In the Arabian Peninsula, groundwater accounts for 40–98% of the total freshwater resource. The deficit is made up by drawing on groundwater. During the 20th century, the amount has increased sevenfold, although the population increase has only increased threefold. Currently, the wells around Riyadh pump 2.5 m3/sec of brackish water from depths aro...

Since early 1950s, Kuwait embarked on desalination as the most practical solution to its water supply problems and has used it successfully ever since. The capacity of desalination plants in the Arabian Gulf countries and the world is very high and the growth of world quantity of desalinated water shows changes in the proportion of the total contri...

This chapter discusses the hydrogeochemistry of rain water, spring water, and falaj water of Arabian Peninsula. Over the vast extent of the Arabian Peninsula, the average rainfall ranges from less than 50 mm to 160 mm depending upon location, exceeding that amount only in the marginal mountains of Oman, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Yemen, and Saudi...

Detailed field mapping and structural studies in the Jebel Auha-Jebel Huwayyah area northeast of Al-Ain indicate that folding of neoautochthonous sedimentary rocks produced the north-northwest-trending Huwayyah Anticline. The anticline at the surface is composed of the Maastrichtian Qahlah and Simsima formations unconformably overlain by shallow-ma...