What is the geological origin of the extensive dark lava fields (harrat) scattered across western Saudi Arabia, such as Harrat Khaybar and Harrat Rahat?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. Cenozoic intraplate volcanic eruptions associated with Red Sea rifting
- Step 1: Geological timeline: Western Arabia features over 180,000 square kilometers of basaltic lava plateaus called 'harrat'.
- Step 2: These volcanic fields erupted during the Oligocene to Holocene epochs due to mantle upwelling and continental rifting that created the Red Sea basin.
Answer
Cenozoic intraplate volcanic eruptions associated with Red Sea rifting.
Why not the others: 'Mesozoic glacial moraine' is chronologically and geographically incorrect; 'Limestone deposits' form sedimentary escarpments, not basaltic lava fields; 'Himalayan collision' relates to Asia, not the Arabian Shield.
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