Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
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Keywords
Dinosaur tracksites
Palaeontological heritage
Geopark
Geotourism
Arhab
Yemen
Mots-cl
s
Pistes de dinosaures
é
Patrimoine pal
é
ontologique
G
é
oparc
G
é
otourisme
Arhab
Y
é
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1
Introduction
This paper introduces the dinosaur footprints as features
of geoheritage signi
cance in the Arhab area to the inter-
national community, highlighting the necessity for their
urgent protection and valorization, and to promote the
establishment of a geopark in the region.
The study area is situated in the Arhab district, 47 km
northeast of Sana
Fossils are excellent records of life on Planet Earth since its
creation, as well as they are a major attraction for Earth
Scientists, researchers and general public interested in Earth
history and the stages through which life has evolved.
Dinosaurs are among the most attractive creature, through
their skeletal remains and ichnofossils, worldwide, whether
in scienti
a, the capital of Yemen (Fig.
1
). It is
located in the central plateau where the altitude ranges
between 1,941 and 3,017 m above sea level. The region is
linked to the capital by the main road leading to Al-Jawf
Governorate (Fig.
1
). A network of asphalted and paved
roads branches from the main road to many villages and to
neighboring regions. This region is characterized by a mild
climate throughout the year, but it tends to be slightly cool in
winter. The rainy season is between the onset of the spring
(March) and winter (October); though it may not rain for
consecutive years.
'
c researches, education or entertainment such as
science
ction movies.
More and more countries are compiling inventories of
their sites of geoheritage signi
cance that can be used for
educating the general public in Earth history, environmental
matters, demonstrating sustainable development, and illus-
trating methods of site conservation thereby recalling that
rocks, minerals, fossils, soils, landforms and landscapes are
all the products and record of the evolution of our planet
Earth and, as such, form an integral part of the natural world
(Eder and Patzak
2004
).
In the last
2
Geological Setting
ve decades, several countries sought to protect
their geoheritage, whether it was fossils, rocks, minerals or
combinations of certain different geologic phenomena. This
activity clearly emerged in UK, USA, Australia, European and
some Asian countries. In Africa, and Middle East countries,
there has been an urgent need to address and rectify the
depletion of natural resources and destruction of a large pro-
portion of features of geological heritage but, unfortunately,
up to 2010, the protection, conservation and management of
these features are still marginalized and neglected. In 2011, the
organization of the First International Conference on African
and Arabian Geoparks in El Jadida (Morocco), by the African
Geoparks Network (AGN) provided an opportunity to begin to
de
The Arhab area is located in the central plateau of Yemen
which is covered by the limestone of the Amran Group and
the Tertiary and Quaternary volcanic rocks (Fig.
2
). The
Amran Group in Yemen and its equivalent in Arabia is one
of the most interesting research areas due to its geologic
setting and economic importance. These rock units host the
large oil reservoirs in the Middle East and in the world. In
Yemen, this group represents the source reservoir and the
cap rocks of the oil
atayn)
Basin (Bosworth et al.
2005
). Rocks of the Amran Group are
mainly of yellowish to beige limestone and greenish marl
containing various invertebrate fossils such as bivalves,
brachiopods and echinoderms with a dominance of gastro-
pods and foraminifera. Gastropods are represented by the
elds in Marib
-
Shabwa (Sab
'
ne and introduce geoheritage into African andMiddle East
regions, and to promote sites of geoheritage signi
cance
through the establishment of geoparks (Errami et al.
2012
).
