Middle East
The USGS has a long history of cooperative studies and research in the Middle East.
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Ongoing and recent efforts include:
- Arab-Israeli Water: Current activities with Israelis, Jordanians, and Palestinians are an outgrowth of involvement since 1994 in the Regional Water Data Banks and the Public Awareness and Water Conservation Projects of the Multilateral Working Group on Water Resources, managed by the Executive Action Team (EXACT) as part of Middle East Peace process. Over the past decade, USGS provided technical assistance to the Department of State on topics of water monitoring and hydrologic data, specifically, facilitating joint meetings of Israeli and Palestinian Water Authorities to discuss water issues of mutual concern including sustainability of groundwater and surface water resources, water monitoring, and integrated water management.
- Iraq Water: Supporting the Iraq Ministry of Water Resources in remote-sensing based investigations to monitor meteorological and hydrologic conditions of headwaters region of Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Information used to inform management of transboundary flow and reservoir inventories.
- Middle East Earthquake Hazards: Capacity building and data sharing program for seismic networks in the Arabian Peninsula region
Completed efforts:
- Aquifer Storage and Recovery: At the request of the U.S. Agency for International Development, USGS helped Jordan and Lebanon to assess suitability for artificial recharge methods to help manage scarce groundwater resources, and improve water supply. Methods developed were suitable for use in the Middle East-North Africa region.
- Algeria Mineral Resources: Mineral resource assessment of Eglab region in western Algeria along Mauritania border. Two 1-month-long field campaigns and two US-based training sessions for Algerian project members
- RELEMR: USGS cooperated with UNESCO on a project for the Reduction of Earthquake Losses in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (RELEMR). More than 15 meetings involving Israel and its neighbors have focused on the exchange of seismological data and the examination of common issues that influence the damage caused by earthquakes.
- Saudi Volcanic Hazards: A 5-year program with the Saudi Geological Survey providing information for use in planning for urban expansion. Focused on understanding of active volcanism and dating of young eruptive events, Madinah area, on the edge of a volcanic field that has seen historic eruptions and experiences on-going seismicity.
- Abu Dhabi: USGS partnered with the Abu Dhabi Emirate to collect information on the groundwater resources, to conduct research on the hydrology of the arid environment, to provide training in water-resources investigations, and to document the results of the cooperative work in scientific publications. Special projects included groundwater modeling, tree ring work, perchlorate contamination, land-use change, and microgravity surveys.
*Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
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Accelerating Aquifer Storage & Recovery in the Middle East and North Africa Region
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Crustal thickness and the VP/VS ratio within the Arabia Plate from P-wave receiver functions at 154 broadband seismic stations
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Accelerating Aquifer Storage & Recovery in the Middle East and North Africa Region
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Regional screening for managed aquifer recharge suitability in Jordan, Lebanon, and surrounding areas
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Agency for International Development, Arab Water Council, Hydrology.NL, National Center for Research and Development (Jordan), and American University of Beirut, completed a project for acceleration of aquifer storage and recovery in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The MENA region is globally the most water...
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Information on the spatio-temporal distribution of rainfall is very critical for addressing water related disasters, especially in the arid to semi-arid regions of the Middle East and North Africa region. However, availability of reliable rainfall datasets for the region is limited. In this study we combined observation from satellite-based rainfall data, in situ rain gauge observation...
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The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is the most water-scarce region with only two percent of the global average annual rainfall, hence underground aquifers are the major source of water. The need to improve water productivity and increase aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) is driving the efforts for this acceleration of aquifer storage and recovery project. The objective was...
Filter Total Items: 29
The Saudi Geological Survey-U.S. Geological Survey northern Harrat Rahat project—Styles, rates, causes, and hazards of volcanism near Al Madīnah al Munawwarah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Active volcanic systems pose serious hazards to people and property including inundation and incineration by lava, blanketing by tephra (volcanic ash), exposure to noxious volcanic gases, and damage from shallow earthquakes triggered by ascending molten material (magma). To improve understanding of volcanism and associated seismicity on the western Arabia Plate, the Saudi Geological...
Authors
Thomas W. Sisson, Andrew T. Calvert, Walter D. Mooney
Overview of the Cenozoic geology of the northern Harrat Rahat volcanic field, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
The Harrat Rahat volcanic field, located in the west-central part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is one of the larger Cenozoic harrats among the more than 17 harrats situated upon the Arabia Plate. The map plate contained herein shows, at a scale of 1:100,000, the mapped volcanic geology of northern Harrat Rahat, which consists of the northernmost one-fifth of Harrat Rahat. Northern...
Authors
Joel E. Robinson, Drew T. Downs
Seismic hazard assessment for areas of volcanic activity in western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Earthquake swarms caused by volcanic activity, tectonic stresses, or industrial operations (oil and gas production) can pose considerable risk for nearby settlements. As a rule, a probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA) that is based on time-independent earthquakes does not take into account earthquake swarms because of their statistically time-dependent nature. We describe the...
Authors
Hani M. Zahran, Vladimir Sokolov, Ian C. F. Stewart
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As part of a joint Saudi Geological Survey (SGS) and United States Geological Survey project, we analyzed P-wave receiver functions from seismic stations covering most of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to map the thickness of the crust across the Arabia Plate. We present an update of crustal thickness estimates and fill in gaps for the western Arabian Shield and the rifted margin at the Red...
Authors
Alexander R. Blanchette, Simon L. Klemperer, Walter D. Mooney
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Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 3.8 billion barrels of oil and 20.7 trillion cubic feet of gas offshore of Morocco.
Authors
Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Cheryl A. Woodall, Phuong A. Le, Andrea D. Cicero, Ronald M. Drake, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Thomas M. Finn, Michael H. Gardner, Sarah E. Gelman, Jane S. Hearon, Benjamin G. Johnson, Jenny H. Lagesse, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Kristen R. Marra, Kira K. Timm, Scott S. Young
Satellite precipitation bias estimation and correction using in situ observations and climatology isohyets for the MENA region
The availability of reliable gridded precipitation datasets is limited around the world, especially in arid regions. In this study, we utilized observations from satellite-based precipitation data and in situ rain gauge observations to determine a suitable precipitation dataset in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region. First, we evaluated seven different precipitation products...
Authors
Stefanie Kagone, Naga Manohar Velpuri, Kul Bikram Khand, Gabriel B. Senay, Michael R. Van der Valk, Daniel J. Goode, Salam Abu Hantash, Thair M. Al-Momani, Nanor Momejian, Jack R. Eggleston
Managed aquifer recharge suitability—Regional screening and case studies in Jordan and Lebanon
The U.S. Geological Survey, at the request of the U.S. Agency for International Development, led a 5-year regional project to develop and apply methods for water availability and suitability mapping for managed aquifer recharge (MAR) in the Middle East and North Africa region. A regional model of surface runoff for the period from 1984 to 2015 was developed to characterize water...
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources in the eastern Mediterranean area, 2020
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 879 million barrels of conventional oil and 286.2 trillion cubic feet of conventional gas in the eastern Mediterranean area.
Authors
Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Thomas M. Finn, Cheryl A. Woodall, Kristen R. Marra, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Phuong A. Le, Ronald M. Drake
Mapping croplands of Europe, Middle East, Russia, and Central Asia using Landsat 30-m data, machine learning algorithms and Google Earth Engine
Accurate and timely information on croplands is important for environmental, food security, and policy studies. Spatially explicit cropland datasets are also required to derive information on crop type, crop yield, cropping intensity, as well as irrigated areas. Large area defined as continental to global cropland mapping is challenging due to differential manifestation of croplands...
Authors
Aparna Phalke, Mutlu Ozdogan, Prasad Thenkabail, Tyler Erickson, Noel Gorelick
Assessment of continuous oil and gas resources in Lower Silurian Shales of the Arabian Peninsula, 2019
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 4.6 billion barrels of oil and 561 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Lower Silurian Shale Total Petroleum System of the Arabian Peninsula.
Authors
Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Cheryl A. Woodall, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Thomas M. Finn, Michael E. Brownfield, Kristen R. Marra, Phuong A. Le, Ronald M. Drake, Scott A. Kinney
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Groundwater in eastern Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates is an important resource that is widely used for irrigation and domestic supplies in rural areas. The U.S. Geological Survey and the Environment Agency—Abu Dhabi cooperated on an investigation to integrate existing hydrogeologic information and to answer questions about regional groundwater resources in Abu Dhabi by developing...
Authors
Jack R. Eggleston, Thomas J. Mack, Jeffrey L. Imes, Wade Kress, Dennis W. Woodward, Daniel J. Bright
40Ar/39Ar and U-Pb SIMS zircon ages of Ediacaran dikes from the Arabian-Nubian Shield of south Jordan
A spectacular feature of the Arabian-Nubian Shield (ANS) is the abundance of well-exposed and extensive Neoproterozoic dike swarms of multiple generations. These dikes are generally categorized into metamorphosed and unmetamorphosed post-orogenic dike swarms. The unmetamorphosed dikes in the northern ANS can be grouped into an old and young generations. We dated three dikes from the old...
Authors
Hind Ghanem, Ryan J. McAleer, Ghaleb Jarrar, Mu'ayyad Al Hseinat, Martin Whitehouse