Landforms Evolution of Wadi Qudaid Area, West Central Arabian Shield, Saudi Arabia: An Example of the Role of the Geological Factors in the Urban Extensions

Abstract

Wadi Qudaid is located in the west central part of Saudi Arabia. It about 135 km to the northeast of Jeddah city along Al Haramein highway and it represents the upstream of the very large alluvial plain along the Red Sea coast. It runs in NE direction parallel to many wadis of the west central part of Saudi Arabia i.e. Wadi Fatima, wadi Sitarah. The wadi floor is filled by Quaternary deposits which represent good groundwater aquifer. Geologically, the present-day residual landforms of Wadi Qudaid are composed mainly of Precambrian Arabia shield rocks overlained by Tertiary sedimentary rocks and finally harrat (Tertiary volcanic). The Precambrian rocks are represented by 1) a lower layered basic and intermediate volcanic and the intercalated volcaniclastics. This unit is correlatable with Samran Group, 2) an upper layered acidic volcanic and the intercalated acidic volcaniclastics. The Arabian shield rocks are intensively folded and dragged along the major NE faults. They are directly overlain by Tertiary basic volcanic (harrat) and the related volcanoclastic red beds). The main geomorphologic elements of the study area include plateau, scarps, and the wadi floor. The plateau is represented by the black basaltic sheet that contains some semi-rounded depressions filled with Quaternary eolian sands. The scarps of the main wadi and its tributaries are nearly steep and contain many asphaltic roads with some isolated cone hills detached from the scarps. Geomorphological, Wadi Qudaid represents the incomplete erosion cycle that begins with the formation of deep galleries and very steep and narrow wadies formed along the major NE faults and related fractures and folds. The progress of the erosion processes led to the formation of narrow interfluves as a result of pedimentation and sculpturing of the wadies sides by scarp retreat. The peniplanation stages of the erosion cycles are reached in the southwestern and the central part of the wadi where fast peniplained areas were formed. The results of this study revealed the role of the different geological processes (lithology, structural elements and climatic conditions) in the distribution of present-day human populations in urban extensions. Qudaid, Dhubaya-Jumah, Dabyah, Al Khamrah, Almansa and Al Massamah are the main villages of Wadi Qudaid area.