Using Space Techniques and GIS to Identify Vulnerable Areas to Natural Hazards Along the Jeddah-Rabigh Region, Saudi Arabia

Download or read book Using Space Techniques and GIS to Identify Vulnerable Areas to Natural Hazards Along the Jeddah-Rabigh Region, Saudi Arabia written by Mashael M. Al Saud and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Natural hazards have become the foremost geo-environmental issue in many regions worldwide, since rarely a year goes by without any catastrophic event that harms both urban structure and human life. These natural hazards are exacerbated by a number of physical and demographic factors and variables. The most common aspects of these hazards are floods and their related processes of soil and rock erosion of different types, landslides, volcanic activities, seismic movements of different magnitudes, as well as coastal erosion and sea floods on coastal zones. It is extremely dangerous to have all these natural catastrophic aspects within one region, which makes it susceptible to natural disturbances. A typical example is the area located along the Western coast of Saudi Arabia, between Jeddah and Rabigh. This area is currently witnessing an obvious development trend and dramatic urban growth, including a miscellany of urban and tourist settlements, in addition to mushrooming academic centers. However, the region's susceptibility to natural hazards was not considered during this development. The area comprises mountain chains of igneous rocks and complexes with extensive rock structures, including volcanic dykes and fault systems, which are susceptible to movement at any time. In addition, the area extends to the coastal plain to the west, which is almost covered by interbedded rocky and soil materials due to the transgression and regression processes that have taken place in the past. This makes the region vulnerable to sea flooding. The hydrological records, with a special emphasis on floods, along with the seismic frequency records show a recurrence of catastrophic events. These observations have been made in addition to physical observations"--