There is a place in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which is like no other in the world. Whereas it is not well-known Saudi Arabia has volcanoes, even plenty of volcanoes including active ones. Volcanic activity is related to hot spot activity on the Arabian Plate which was uplifted on the eastern side of the Red Sea rift.
The basaltic lava fields in the western part of the country are called harrat. They cover about 180 000 square km and extend from Turkey to Yemen in the south.One of the largest volcanic fields is known as Harrat Khaybar, named after the city which lays on its western side. Its ancient and recent lava flows spread between the provinces of Madinah and Ha’il, on the northwest of the city of Madinah, and cover more than 14 000 square kilometers. It contains a 100-kilometer-long north-south oriented line of volcanic vents including scoria cones, lava domes, maars, basalt lava flows, and the only stratovolcano (built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava) in the Harrat of western Arabia, the Jebel Qidr.The Harrat Khaybar is still active as testified at least eight eruptions that took place during Islamic era (less than 1500 years old). These include the prominent 55-kilometer-long Habir lava flow and flows from Jabal Qidr which present lava flows that have till today a fluid aspect. However, only one eruption is recorded in historic memory from early Islamic times during the 7th century CE (1st century H).
