International geological significance of the potential Al-Medina volcanic UNESCO Global Geopark Project in Saudi Arabia revealed from multi-satellite remote sensing data

UNESCO Global Geoparks should be of international geological significance in terms of their scientific quality, rarity, aesthetic appeal and tourism value. At least nine Cenozoic volcanic fields are developed in the western Saudi Arabia, with a total area of 180,000 km2. In this paper, the geological and geomorphological features of these volcanic fields induced by the expansion of the Red Sea are interpreted and displayed using multi-source satellite images, such as Landsat-8 OLI (Operational Land Imager) and Gaofen-2 data. Our results show that the Al-Medina volcanic field (AMVF) has great prospects as the aspiring volcanic Geopark in Saudi Arabia. This study indicates that: (1) AMVF has international geoscientific significance and rare natural attribute because the volcanic fields are induced by the rising mantle plume and rare examples of white volcanoes comprised mainly from felsic rock; (2) AMVF has abundant volcanic landscapes, including completely preserved cones and craters and multi-phase lava flows from different eruption stages, which have great aesthetic appreciation and tourism values to attract the general public; (3) AMVF is close to the second holy city of Islam-Medina, which has convenient transportation and is suitable to develop tourism to promote the development of the local economy; (4) AMVF had erupted repeatedly (the latest eruption was in 1256 AD), establishment of the UNESCO Global Geopark Project can not only prevent potential geological hazard risks to the people living in Medina city from future volcanic eruption events, but also provide better protection and conservation to geoheritage sites being damaged by human activities, for example setting protected boundaries of AMVF to avoid the destruction of volcanic landscape integrity caused by urban expansion.