Arid regions are considered the most vulnerable areas regarding the water crisis. Al-Abwa drainage basin, situated at western arid part of the Saudi Arabian Shield region, presents a complex hydrogeological setup along the Red Sea coastline. Historically, the groundwater was used to extract from shallow thin alluvial aquifers underlain by the basement rock terrains. With time, rapid increase in population with changes in lifestyle and associated faster urban, industrial, and agriculture development activities caused stresses on the water demand for further socio-economic growth in the basin. As such, dependency on desalinated seawater supply from the Red Sea became unavoidable. A research study was carried out for appraisal of the groundwater potential associated with the thin alluvial aquifers, and new aquifers within the Cenozoic lava flows and Precambrian rock terrains in the basin. The study included the hydrogeological field investigations, the evaluation of exposed geological setup, the watershed characterization and the satellite remote sensing analyses and modeling. Results have provided clear understanding about the hydrogeological conditions in terms of tentative groundwater quality, expected quantity, utilization trends, hydro-characteristics of exposed rock units, precise delineation of Al-Abwa basin/sub-basins, structural impacts on flowing patterns of drainage networks, hydro-geomorphic parameters, recharging and discharging characteristics, impacts of auto-extracted lineaments and their density anomalies. Integration of various accomplished sub-studies revealed bright prospects of the fault/fracture zone(s) aquifers within Precambrian rock terrains in Al-Abwa drainage basin, which were recommended for further detailed geophysical and test drilling exploration.

中文翻译：

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阿拉伯盾构干旱地区，沙特阿拉伯红海沿岸带Al-Abwa流域的地下水前景的水文地质评估

干旱地区被认为是水危机最脆弱的地区。Al-Abwa流域位于沙特阿拉伯盾构地区的西部干旱地区，沿红海海岸线呈现出复杂的水文地质构造。从历史上看，地下水是用来从地下岩石地形之下的浅层薄冲积层中提取的。随着时间的流逝，人口的快速增加以及生活方式的改变以及随之而来的城市，工业和农业发展活动的加快，导致对该流域进一步社会经济增长的用水需求造成压力。因此，对来自红海的淡化海水供应的依赖变得不可避免。进行了一项研究研究，以评估与薄冲积含水层相关的地下水潜力，盆地新生代熔岩流和前寒武纪岩石地形中的新含水层。该研究包括水文地质调查，裸露的地质构造评估，分水岭表征以及卫星遥感分析和建模。结果提供了对水文地质条件的清晰了解，包括暂定的地下水质量，预期数量，利用趋势，裸露的岩石单元的水文特征，Al-Abwa盆地/子盆地的精确描绘，结构对排水网络流动模式的影响，水地貌参数，充电和放电特性，自提取谱系的影响及其密度异常。