Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Geomorphological Landscape Assessment in the Hismah Desert: A Possible Geopark in Link with NEOM Project

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Geoheritage Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

NEOM is a new regional development in Saudi Arabia with a strong focus on the environment and sustainable development. In the cultural aspect, NEOM represents an opportunity for urban development that considers the protection of natural heritage assets. The Hismah desert in the northeast part of NEOM is characterised by sandstone and aeolian landscapes which are important in terms of scientific, educational, tourism, archaeological, ecological, and cultural value. This paper aims to assess the geomorphological landscape in the Hismah desert and provides a sustainable development plan for geoconservation and geotourism. The assessment method considers the landscape’s scientific and economic value, mainly derived from fieldwork. Economic value is calculated from ecological, aesthetic, and cultural value. Scientific and economic value for the whole landscape is high. The prolonged weathering and denudation process leads to mesa, butte, pinnacle, scarp, yardang, wadi, and rock pedestal formation. Key aeolian features are nebkha, sand and gravel sheets. The geological features are honeycomb structures, sandstone crossbed, and sedimentary deformation. Historical and cultural features enhance economic value. Considering the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, geoconservation and geotourism can be developed sustainably to support regional development in an arid region. Therefore, in link with the NEOM Project, this paper proposes Hismah Desert as a geopark for conserving geomorphological landscape, geotourism and regional development.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

(source: https://certmapper.cr.usgs.gov/data/apps/world-maps/)

Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

Data Availability

The GIS files related to the geological map are collected from the open-source files from the United States Geological Survey website. KFUPM researchers generated scoring and other data.

References

  • AbdelMaksoud KM, Emam M, Al Metwaly W, Sayed F, Berry J (2021) Can innovative tourism benefit the local community: the analysis about establishing a geopark in Abu Roash area, Cairo, Egypt. Int J Geoheritage Parks 9(4):509–525

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abrahams AD, Parsons AJ (eds) (1994) (eds) Geomorphology of desert environments. Chapman and Hall, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Adamovič J (2016) The Kokořín area: sandstone landforms controlled by hydrothermal ferruginization. Landscapes Land Czech Repub: 153–164

  • AlRayyan K, Hamarneh C, Sukkar H, Ghaith A, Abu-Jaber N (2019) From abandoned mines to a labyrinth of knowledge: a conceptual design for a geoheritage park museum in Jordan. Geoheritage 11:257–270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blackwelder E (1934) Yardangs. Bulletin of the Geological. Soc Am 45(1):159–166

    Google Scholar 

  • Bozonelos D, Raj R (2015) Pilgrimage experience and consumption of travel to City of Makkah for Hajj Ritual. Int J Religious Tourism Pilgrimage 3:38–45

    Google Scholar 

  • Brookfield ME, Ahlbrandt TS (1983) Eolian sediments and processes. Elsevier, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooks A, Agate E (1997) Sand dunes: a practical handbook, 3rd edn. British Trust for Conservation Volunteers, Wallingford,

    Google Scholar 

  • Coratza P (2009) In: Reynard E, Regolini-Bissig G (eds) Geomorphosites. Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, Munich, Germany, pp 21–34

    Google Scholar 

  • da Silva Mutzenberg D, de Barros Correa AC, de Azevêdo Cavalcanti Tavares B, Cisneiros D (2015) Serra da Capivara National Park: Ruinform Landscapes on The Parnaiba Cuesta. Landscapes and landforms of Brazil: 253–263

  • de Lima CCU, Nolasco MC (2015) Chapada Diamantina: a remarkable landscape dominated by mountains and plateaus. Landscapes and landforms of Brazil: 211–220

  • de Morais F, de Cristo SSV (2015) Jalapão: sedimentary heritages in Central Brazil. Landscapes and Landforms of Brazil: 191–200

  • Edgell HS (2006) Desert plains, steppes, and plateaux. Nature, Arabian Deserts, pp 427–445

    Google Scholar 

  • Embabi NS, Embabi NS (2018) The Sandstone Plateaus, SW Western Desert. Landscapes and Landforms of Egypt: Landforms and Evolution, 71–84

  • Farag AA (2019) The story of NEOM city: Opportunities and challenges. New cities and community extensions in Egypt and the Middle East: Visions and challenges: 35–49

  • Fassoulas C, Mouriki D, Dimitriou-Nikolakis P, Iliopoulos G (2022) Quantitative assessment of geotopes as an effective tool for geoheritage management. Geoheritage 4:177–193

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fradley M, Gyngell S (2022) Landscapes of mobility and Movement in North-West Arabia: a remote sensing study of the Neom Impact Zone. Land 11(11):1941

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giardino M, Justice S, Olsbo R, Balzarini P, Magagna A, Viani C, Perotti L (2022) ERASMUS + Strategic Partnerships between UNESCO Global Geoparks, Schools, and Research Institutions: A Window of Opportunity for Geoheritage Enhancement and Geoscience Education. Heritage: 5(2), 677–701

  • Grab S (2015) Sandstone landforms of the Karoo Basin: Naturally sculpted rock. Landscapes and Landforms of South Africa: 11–21

  • Grandgirard V (1999) L’évaluation des géotopes

  • Gray M (2019) Geodiversity, geoheritage and geoconservation for society. Int J Geoheritage Parks 7(4):226–236

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greeley R, Iversen J (1985) Wind as a geologic process. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • HagEl-Safi S, El-Tayeb M (2016) Spatial and statistical analysis of rainfall in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from 1979 to 2008 (Vol.71,No.10, pp. 262–266). Royal Meteorological Society 2016. Weather—October

  • Herrera-Franco G, Montalvan-Burbano N, Carrion-Mero P, Jaya-Montalvo M (2021) Gurumendi-Noriega, M. Worldwide research on geoparks through bibliometric analysis. Sustainability 13(3):1175

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hesp P (2002) Foredunes and blowouts: initiation, geomorphology and dynamics. Geomorphology 48:245–268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horváth G, Utasi Z, Hegedűs A, Pintér Z (2015) The Vajdavár Hills: sandstone cliffs, hoodoos and gorges. Landscapes and landforms of Hungary. Springer, Cham, pp 157–165

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Jain S (2014) Aeolian processes. Fundamentals of Physical Geology, pp 285–310

  • Li Q, Wu R, Ng Y (2022) Developing culturally effective strategies for Chinese to English geotourism translation by corpus-based interdisciplinary translation analysis. Geoheritage 14(1):6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Long C, Lu S, Zhu Y (2022) Research on popular science tourism based on SWOT-AHP model: A case study of Koktokay world geopark in China. Sustainability: 14(15), 8974

  • Mammadova A (2021) Integrating Japanese local government and communities into the educational curriculum on regional sustainability inside the UNESCO’s biosphere reserves and geoparks. Sustainability 13(5):2497

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martínez-Martín JE, Mariñoso PE, Rosado-González EM, Sá AA (2023) UNESCO Global Geoparks vs. Education: a 10-Year Bibliometric Analysis. Geoheritage: 15(1), 34

  • Migoń P (2021) Sandstone geomorphology–recent advances. 373, Geomorphology, p 107484

    Google Scholar 

  • Migoń P, Różycka M, Jancewicz K, Duszyński F (2018) Evolution of sandstone mesas–following landform decay until death. Progress Phys Geography: Earth Environ 42(5):588–606

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mustoe GE (1982) The origin of honeycomb weathering. Geol Soc Am Bull 93(2):108–115

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nairn AEM, Alsharhan AS (1997) Sedimentary basins and petroleum geology of the Middle East. Elsevier

  • Nikolova V, Sinnyovsky D (2019) Geoparks in the legal framework of the EU countries. Tourism Manage Perspect 29:141–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Panizza M Geomorphosites: concepts, methods and example of geomorphological survey. Chinese Science Bulletin, 46, Suppl. Bd, 4–6

  • Pasquaré Mariotto F, Bonali FL, Venturini C (2020) Iceland, an open-air museum for geoheritage and Earth science communication purposes. Resources 9(2):14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quick LJ, Eckardt FD (2015) The Cederberg: a rugged sandstone topography. Landscapes and Landforms of South Africa, pp 85–93

  • Reynard E (2004) Géotopes, géo (morpho) sites et paysages géomorphologiques. Paysages géomorphologiques, 123–136

  • Reynard E, Fontana G, Kozlik L, Scapozza C (2007) A method for assessing the scientific and additional values of geomorphosites. Geogr Helv 62(3):148–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reynard E, Coratza P, Hoblé F (2016) Current research on geomorphosites. Geoheritage: 8, 1–3

  • Rodrigues J, de Carvalho CN, Ramos M, Ramos R, Vinagre A, Vinagre H (2021) Geoproducts–innovative development strategies in UNESCO geoparks: Concept, implementation methodology, and case studies from Naturtejo Global Geopark, Portugal. Int J Geoheritage Parks 9(1):108–128

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosado-González EM, Lourenço JMM, Vaz NM, Silva E, Sá AA (2023) A Literature Review of Geographical Information Systems Applications in UNESCO Global Geoparks. Geoheritage: 15(2), 58

  • Ruban DA, Ermolaev VA (2020) Unique geology and climbing: a literature review. Geosciences 10(7):259

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simonett DS (1968) Wind action. In: Fairbridge RW (ed) Encyclopaedia of geomorphology

  • Tavares AO, Henriques MH, Domingos A, Bala A (2015) Community involvement in geoconservation: a conceptual approach based on the geoheritage of South Angola. Sustainability: 7(5), 4893–4918

  • Vařilová Z (2016) Elbe sandstones. Landscapes and Landforms of the Czech Republic, 123–137

  • Veress M, Tóth G (2015) Kál Basin: Pseudokarren on Sandstone. Landscapes and landforms of Hungary. Springer, Cham, pp 79–87

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Vítek J (2016) Adršpach-teplice rocks and broumov cliffs—Large sandstone rock cities in the Central Europe. Landscapes and landforms of the Czech Republic: 209–220

  • Wang G (2015) Geoheritage features in Xi’an, China: Cuihua rock avalanche likely originating from an ancient earthquake. Geoheritage 7(3):285–297

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wasson RJ, Hyde R (1983) Factors determining desert dune type. Nature 304: 337–339. Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment. 2010; 34 (6):857–862

  • Werner BT (1995) Eolian dunes: Computer simulations and attractor interpretation: Geology, v. 23p. 1107–1110

  • Zafeiropoulos G, Drinia H, Antonarakou A, Zouros N (2021) From geoheritage to geoeducation, geoethics and geotourism: a critical evaluation of the Greek region. Geosciences 11(9):381

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge NEOM and King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM) for providing the opportunity to carry out the research. The authors thank Dr. Naveen Kumar, Dr. Aarif K.M, Mr. Goutham Sambath, and Mr. Premlal Panickan in the Applied Research Center for Environment and Marine Studies researchers for their support.

Funding

This research paper is an outcome of the NEOM-funded project to King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM) entitled ‘Consultancy Services to NEOM in the execution of fast-track environmental technical services’ (KFUPM Project No. CEM02669).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Applied Research Center for Environment and Marine Studies, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia

    Subhajit Sen, Mohamed O. Abouelresh, Ali Almusabeh, Fahad S. Al-Ismail & Thadickal V. Joydas

  2. NEOM Environment, Neom, Saudi Arabia

    Bruno Pulido

Authors
  1. Subhajit Sen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mohamed O. Abouelresh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ali Almusabeh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Fahad S. Al-Ismail
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Bruno Pulido
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Thadickal V. Joydas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

SS initiated the concept and took the leading role in scoring, calculating, fieldwork, and developing an initial manuscript. MOA participated in fieldwork and contributed to the manuscript preparation. A Al participated extensively in the fieldwork. Bruno Pulido was involved in the study design and contributed to the manuscript preparation. FS-I contributed to the manuscript preparation. TVJ was involved in the study design and contributed to the manuscript preparation and review of it.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Subhajit Sen or Thadickal V. Joydas.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sen, S., Abouelresh, M.O., Almusabeh, A. et al. Geomorphological Landscape Assessment in the Hismah Desert: A Possible Geopark in Link with NEOM Project. Geoheritage 16, 48 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12371-024-00956-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12371-024-00956-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation