Groundwater in the Arab Middle East
The book gives an outline of prevailing hydrogeologic conditions in the Arab Middle East together with the geologic background. Emphasis is given to relationships between the main features influencing the hydrogeologic conditions - regional geologic devel
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Wolfgang Wagner
Groundwater in the Arab Middle East
Wolfgang Wagner Hohenzollernstr. 21 30161 Hannover Germany [email protected]
ISBN 978-3-642-19350-7 e-ISBN 978-3-642-19351-4 DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-19351-4 Springer Heidelberg Dordrecht London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2011931780 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Violations are liable to prosecution under the German Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Cover design: deblik, Berlin Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
To Ursula and to my colleagues and friends in the Arab countries
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If all the waters would be salty and man would have to change it to achieve its sweetness, great efforts would arise to man. The sublime Creator has saved, in his grace, his creatures these efforts through the effect of the sun on the water of the sea and the rise of the vapour from the sea; the winds then disperse these vapours wherever he wants, and it arrives as rain water at these locations. That is then stored in rivulets within the mountains and under the earth. He then brings out part of the water and lets flow wadis and rivers, and springs and wells appear in such a degree that it is sufficient for the creatures for 1 year until rain comes again in the following year. Al Qazwini Zakariya ibn Muhamad ibn Mahmud abu Yahya, ca. 1262 (AH 665)
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Introduction
The region covering the Arabian Peninsula and the adjoining northern Arabian countries coincides approximately with a specific large geologic structure: the Arabian Plate. Politically the region includes the countries of the Arabian Peninsula together with the northern Arab countries: Al Mashreq – the eastern part of the caliphate or of the Arab World. In a geographic political view the region may be denominated Arab Middle East (Ash Sharq al Awsat) or Western Asia. The Arab Middle East with an area of 3.7 million km2 forms a small subcontinent between the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, the Gulf and, in the north, the Zagros–Taurus mountain chains. About 90% of the region are semiarid to arid steppe or desert areas. As perennial rivers exist only in the northern and western margins of the Arab Middle East, the use of groundwater resources is an essential basis for t
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