Geothermal Imaging of the Saudi Cross-Border City of NEOM Deduced from Magnetic Data

Abstract

The Saudi Arabia government announced the $500 billion mega project “NEOM City”, to build a cross-border mega city to connect Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordon for attracting foreign investments to the region. NEOM city is situated on the eastern region of the Gulf of Aqaba with its western side in the Sinai Peninsula. The selected site for NEOM city is geographically remarkable; nevertheless, this site needs a detailed geological and geophysical investigation. Sinai Peninsula is a microplate between the Arabian and African plates. Its southern tip is located at a triple junction comprising the Gulf of Aqaba–Dead Sea Transform fault, the Gulf of Suez, and the Red Sea, leading to relatively higher seismic activities in the region. The current study aims to understand the thermal structure of the vicinity of NEOM city to address the potential geohazards and indicate geological attractions within and around the planned city. We use the magnetic data from which geothermal images can be obtained. The preliminary results indicate that there is geologic similarity between the southern part of Sinai Peninsula and the northern part of the Arabian shield. This is because the Gulf of Aqaba separates what was once a continues Neoproterozoic crust. In addition, the magnetic data showed the presence of prominent lineaments on either side of the Gulf of Aqaba. The notable lineaments might represent faults that could still be active. Hence, selecting a site of NEOM city to be east of the Gulf of Aqaba needs to be guided by the careful understanding of the potential hazards. In addition, shallow Curie depths near the Gulf of Aqaba are recognized as a source for renewable geothermal energy.

Integrated approach using petrophysical, gravity, and magnetic data to evaluate the geothermal resources at the Rahat Volcanic Field, Saudi Arabia

“…Natural Gamma Ray (NGR) log is extremely useful for understanding the lithology and facies, which are compulsory factors that help in the recognition of fundamental parameters of geothermal resources (Ashraf et al, 2021;Aboud et al, 2022). NGR log has been utilized to calculate the HP and was significantly employed in recognizing the thickness of the geological units Frontiers in Earth Science frontiersin.org (Asfahani and Abdul-Hadi, 2001;Asfahani, 2018).…”

“…Frontiers in Earth Science frontiersin.org 13 environment, there is generally an inverse relationship between magnetic susceptibility and high temperatures (Aboud et al, 2022). Figure 7A is displaying the generalized trend of susceptibility at each sample point.…”

“…As a result, drilling in these reservoir zones encounters serious geotechnical problems, such as the loss of circulation (Chandreasekharam et al, 2014). It has been observed based on previous studies that loss of circulation is a frequent issue in FIGURE 1 (A) Location and geologic map of the study area (Rahat Volcanic Field) (after Aboud et al, 2022;Downs et al, 2019). (B) Location map of the drilling wells within the study area based on Google Earth Satellite imagery.…”

Morpho-Hydrological Analysis and Preliminary Flash Flood Hazard Mapping of Neom City, Northwestern Saudi Arabia, Using Geospatial Techniques

“…The major tectonic Red Sea presents an NNW-SSE-trending depression extending for about ≈2000 km between the African and Arabian plates. Appearing as a narrow and elongated half depression of about 195 km long and 17 km wide, the Gulf of Aqaba depression is bounded by an elevated mountainous chain mainly composed of Precambrian basement rocks and presenting an absolute narrow zone along the coastal zone [1]. The Gulf of Aqaba's shore borders are bounded by faults showing sharp slope scarps that have been formed by the included faults [21].…”

“…Neom city in Saudi Arabia is being prepared as an effective laboratory for environmental conservation, an economic center for the region, and a convenient place for ideal living conditions [1]. Morphometric characteristics affect different basin processes [2,3], mainly showing hydrology and geomorphology features and presenting comprehensive models on the prospects for water resource management and assessment [4,5].…”