View source for Tuwaiq

{{Short description|Geographic feature in Saudi Arabia}}
{{Refimprove|date=December 2018}}
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[[Image:Tuwaiq Escarpment-14h38m25s-k.jpg|thumb|right|A view of the Tweig (Tuwaiq) Escarpment from the west. The [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] capital [[Riyadh]] lies just beyond the horizon.]]
'''Jabal Tuwaiq''' ({{langx|ar|جَبَل طُوَيْق}}, '''Tuwaiq Mountain''') is a narrow [[escarpment]] that cuts through the plateau of [[Najd]] in central [[Arabia]],<ref name="Scoville1979">{{cite book |last=Scoville |first=Sheila A. |title=Gazetteer of Arabia: a geographical and tribal history of the Arabian Peninsula |volume=2 |pages=117–122 |publisher=Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AH8YAQAAMAAJ&q=tuwaiq |isbn=0-7614-7571-0 |year=2006}}</ref> running approximately {{convert|800|km|mile|abbr=on}}<ref name="GhazanfarFisher2013">{{cite book |last1=Ghazanfar |first1=Shahina A. |author-link=Shahina A. Ghazanfar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uc_tCAAAQBAJ&q=tuwayq |title=Vegetation of the Arabian Peninsula |last2=Fisher |first2=Martin |date=2013-04-17 |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer Science & Business Media]] |isbn=978-9-4017-3637-4 |location=[[Sultan Qaboos University]], [[Muscat]], [[Oman]] |pages=270–345 |chapter=11–13}}</ref> from the southern border of [[Al-Qasim]] in the north, to the northern edge of the [[Rub' al Khali]] desert near [[Wadi ad-Dawasir]] in the south. It is {{convert|600|m|ft|abbr=on}} high and also has a [[Middle Jurassic]] [[stratigraphic section]]. The eastern side slopes downwards gradually, while the western side ends in an abrupt manner. The escarpment can be thought of as a narrow plateau, though the locals refer to it as a ''jebel'' ("mount"). [[Marshall Cavendish]] used the name "Tuwayr Mountains" to describe mountains of central Arabia, distinct from the [[Shammar Mountains|Shammar]] in the north, the [[Dhofar Mountains|Dhofar]] in the south, and [[Al Hajar Mountains|the Hajar]] to the east.<ref name="Cavendish2007">{{cite book |title=World and Its Peoples |volume=1 |chapter=Geography and climate |date=2007 |publisher=[[Marshall Cavendish]] |isbn=978-0-7614-7571-2 |pages=8–19 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j894miuOqc4C&q=tuwayr+mountains&pg=PA8}}</ref>
Many narrow valleys (''[[wadi]]s'') run along its sides, such as [[Wadi Hanifa]], and a group of towns lie on its central section, including the [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] capital, [[Riyadh]]. Many settlements have historically existed on either side of it as well, such as those of [[Sudair]] and Al-Washm.  The Tweig escarpment is mentioned in [[Yaqut al-Hamawi|Yaqut]]'s 13th century geographical encyclopedia under the name "Al-'Aridh", though for the past few centuries that name has applied only to the central section of it, around Riyadh.
==Tourism==
In the framework of the recent Saudi tendency to promote entertainment, a group of 100 young hikers joined  Tuwaiq Mountains Challenge in February, 2019. The hikers climbed around 25km.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.arabnews.com/node/1457466/saudi-arabia|title=More than 100 hikers take part in Tuwaiq Mountains Challenge|date=2019-02-25|website=Arab News|language=en|access-date=2019-02-25}}</ref>
==Petroleum geology==
{{Unsourced|section|date=March 2022}}
The Arab-D ([[Upper Jurassic]]) unit of the Riyadh Group makes up one of the largest [[petroleum reservoir]]s in the world. Bureau and Saudi [[Aramco]] researchers conducted a high-resolution LIDAR survey of Middle Jurassic outcrops of the Tuwaiq Mountain limestone along the Tuwaiq Mountain Escarpment near the city of [[Riyadh]], [[Saudi Arabia]]. This study was a first step towards building a quantitative 3-D geologic model for use as an analog to the lower Arab-D reservoir. Outcrop analogs like this one are critical to understanding reservoir performance on the flow-unit scale (1 to {{convert|30|m|ft|abbr=on}}). Although seismic data allow geologists to gain information about large-scale reservoir compartmentalization (>{{convert|30|m|ft|abbr=off}}), flow-unit scale reservoir parameters are far below seismic imaging capability and inter-well spacing.
High-precision laser scans were used as a template upon which stratigraphic interpretation were made allowing researchers to characterize sub-seismic, flow-unit scale reservoir properties of Jurassic bioherms in an effort to better understand optimum production techniques of this enormous reservoir.
==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Along the Ridge (2993423284).jpg|Along the ridge
File:Desert canyon (3344010623).jpg|Desert canyon
File:Riyadh-Makkah Road near Tuwaiq Escarpment.JPG|The [[Highway 40 (Saudi Arabia)|highway]] from Riyadh to [[Mecca|Makkah]]
File:Tuwaik escarpment-15h23m15s-s.jpg|People at the base of the escarpment
File:Tuwaiq Escarpment (2981960802).jpg|Looking out from the edge of the Tuwaiq Escarpment, west of Riyadh
</gallery>
==See also==
* [[Ad-Dahna Desert]]
*[[List of escarpments]]
*[[Al-Zulfi City]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
{{Commons category|Tuwaiq Escarpment}}
{{Mountains in the Arabian Peninsula}}
{{Saudi Arabia topics}}
[[Category:Mountains of Saudi Arabia]]
[[Category:Historical regions in Saudi Arabia]]
{{Portal|Saudi Arabia}}
{{Saudi-geo-stub}}