Abstract
Integrated geophysical data provides a powerful tool for subsurface imaging with reasonable accuracy. The 2-D electric resistivity tomography and seismic refraction tomography profiling are carried out at four sites in Thuwal-Rabigh area, west-central Saudi Arabia. These profiles oriented perpendicular to the proposed strike of the Qadimah fault to detect the Qadimah fault. The results indicate the presence of the Qadimah fault underneath the northern two profiles at shallow depths, while not recorded through the southern two profiles indicating the absence of fault or changing in its strike southward. These results confirmed the passing of Qadimah fault through the King Abdullah Economic City. The study displayed the extension of the fault through King Abdullah Economic City worming serious hazards in the future in case of reactivating the movement along the fault plane, especially the area has a noticeable seismic activity. Continuous monitoring of earthquake activities and displacement along the fault plane through installation local earthquake monitoring network equipped by global positioning system are highly recommended.
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The authors thank the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology for contribution with field facilities. The authors would like to extend their sincere appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Saud University for funding this research group (No. RGP-1436-010).
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AlQahtani, H.H., Fnais, M.S., Almadani, S.A. et al. Electrical resistivity and refraction seismic tomography in the detection of near-surface Qadimah Fault in Thuwal-Rabigh area, Saudi Arabia. Arab J Geosci 14, 1153 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-07524-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-07524-2