First evidence for episodic flooding events in the arid interior of central Saudi Arabia over the last 60 ka |
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| Authors: | Sue J McLaren Farhan Al‐Juaidi Mark D Bateman Andrew C Millington |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Geography, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK;2. Department of Geography, King Saud University, Riyadh, RSA;3. Sheffield Centre for International Drylands Research, Department of Geography, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK;4. Department of Geography, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA |
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| Abstract: | Although evidence for Quaternary environmental changes in the Arabian Peninsula is now growing, research has mostly been conducted in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and in the Sultanate of Oman. There have been virtually no recent studies in Saudi Arabia, especially in the central region such as around Al‐Quwaiayh. In this area there are a series of outwash plains developed along the eastern edge of the Arabian Shield that formed in the late Quaternary. Four sedimentary sections, which are representative of the deposits that have accumulated, have been studied and five luminescence ages obtained. These are the first luminescence ages acquired from Quaternary sediments in central Saudi Arabia. The preserved fluvial deposits in the study area have formed during humid events at ca. 54 ka, ca. 39 ka and ca. 0.8 ka. In more recent times aeolian sands have been encroaching on to the distal parts of the outwash plains. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
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| Keywords: | central Saudi Arabia Quaternary sediments luminescence dating |
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