Geological Setting, Palaeoenvironment and Archaeology of the Red Sea (eBook)

Dr. Najeeb M.A. Rasul holds a Master’s degree in Marine Geology, and has a Ph.D. in Geological Oceanography from the University of Wales, UK. He is presently a Technical Advisor at the Saudi Geological Survey (SGS) in Jeddah. For the past 15 years he has been associated with several organizations and has held key research positions at Geological and Geophysical Research Systems in Canada, the Challenger Division for Seafloor Processes at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK., Environment Canada in Burlington, Canada, and the Center for Marine Geology at the SGS, where he was the Head of the Center from 2003 to 2010. He has conducted research cruises with European Union Research centres, including the Institute of Marine Sciences (ISMAR), Italy and the IOC-UNESCO (TTR programme) and has been a EUROMARGINS and Saudi Scientific Coordinator. He has been involved in several research projects and cruises as chief scientist, and scientific investigator in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans, including the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Strait of Gibraltar, Gulf of Cadiz, Mediterranean Sea, Tyrrhenian Sea, Alboran Sea, Henderson Lake, Lake Erie, Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, Arabian Sea, and currently the Red Sea for the last 15 years. His research interests have concentrated on the fields of both shallow and deep water sedimentary processes, depositional mechanisms and environmental aspects. These include research on modern underwater sedimentary features and processes involved in their formation, deep sea turbidite systems, sediment dispersal and pathways, sediment plumes, fluxes and deposition, contaminants and chemical pathways for pollution and their environmental impact in both time and space, as well as marine mineral resources. He has also worked on the formation and exploration of oil and gas in deltas and offshore regions.Dr. Ian C.F. Stewart received a Ph.D. in seismology from the University of Adelaide, South Australia. From 1974 until 1982 he was with the Department of Earth Sciences at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada, where he taught geophysics. He then carried out research and worked on potential fields for Saudi Aramco in the Exploration Department in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia until 1996, and later for Normandy Exploration in Australia for 2 years in gold exploration. He was the Geophysical Technical Adviser to the Saudi Geological Survey, Jeddah, between 2003 and 2013. He is an independent geophysical consultant based in Adelaide, applying proprietary methods for processing gravity and magnetic data for numerous mining and oil companies in Australia, the Middle East, Africa and North and South America.

Introduction to geology, palaeoenvironment and archaeology of the Red Sea.- Neotectonics of the Red Sea, Gulf of Suez and Gulf of Aqaba.- A modern view on the Red Sea Rift: Tectonics, volcanism and salt blankets.- Constraining the opening of the Red Sea: Evidence from the Neoproterozoic margins and Cenozoic magmatism for a Volcanic Rifted Margin.- Timing of extensional faulting along the magma-poor central and northern Red Sea rift margin – Transition from regional extension to necking along a hyperextended rifted margin.- The nature of upper mantle upwelling during initiation of seafloor spreading in the southern Red Sea.- Oceanization starts at depth during continental rupturing in the northern Red Sea.- Rifting and salt deposition on continental margins: Differences and similarities between the Red Sea and the South Atlantic sedimentary basins.- Plate motions around the Red Sea since the Early Oligocene.- Hydrothermal prospection in the Red Sea Rift: Geochemical messages from basalts.- Salt formation, accumulation, and expulsion processes during ocean rifting – new insight gained from the Red Sea.- Origin of submarine channel north of Hanish Sill, Red Sea.- Cenozoic faults and seismicity in northwest Saudi Arabia and the Gulf of Aqaba region.- Crustal and upper-mantle structure beneath Saudi Arabia from receiver functions and surface wave analysis.- Variations in Plio-Pleistocene deposition in the Red Sea.- Pleistocene coral reef terraces on the Saudi Arabian side of the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea.- Mollusc fauna associated with Late Pleistocene coral reef systems of the Saudi Arabian side of the Gulf of Aqaba.- Geochemistry of the Lunayyir and Khaybar volcanic fields (Saudi Arabia): Insights into the origin of Cenozoic Arabian volcanism.- Palaeomagnetism and geochronology of the Harrats Lunayyir and Khaybar lava fields, Saudi Arabia.- Microstructure and geochemistry of magmatic dykes from the Arabian margin, Red Sea.- Manganese mineralization related to the Red Sea Rift system: Examples from the Red Sea coast and Sinai, Egypt.- The spatial distribution pattern of surficial sediment in Shiab Al-Kabeer, a shoal in the Red Sea of Saudi Arabia.- Sediment yield calculation along the Red Sea coastal drainage basins.- Landscape archaeology, palaeolithic survey and coastal change along the southern Red Sea of Saudi Arabia.- Investigating the palaeoshorelines and coastal archaeology of the southern Red Sea.- The archaeology of Pleistocene coastal environments and human dispersals in the Red Sea: Insights from the Farasan Islands.- The multi-disciplinary search for underwater archaeology in the southern Red Sea.- Geological structure and Late Quaternary geomorphological evolution of the Farasan Islands continental shelf, south Red Sea, SW Saudi Arabia.- Tectonic geomorphology and soil edaphics as controls on animal migrations and human dispersal patterns.- Blue Arabia, Green Arabia: Examining human colonisation and dispersal models.- Optically Stimulated Luminescence dating as a geochronological tool for Late Quaternary sediments in the Red Sea region.- Results of micropalaeontological analyses on sediment core FA09 from the southern Red Sea continental shelf.- Red Sea palaeoclimate: Stable isotope and element-ratio analysis of marine mollusc shells.- Ancient ports of trade on the Red Sea coasts – the ‘Parameters of Attractiveness’ of site locations and human adaptations to fluctuating land- and sea-scapes. Case study Berenike Troglodytica, southeastern Egypt.