The Bahrah coastal plains of northern Kuwait Bay contain very rare and enigmatic sand bodies in outcrops interpreted as sand injectites. It has been suggested that these sand injectite outcrops are surface manifestations of a near-surface bio-geochemical mechanism (Al-Hajeri et al., 2020). These outcrops are located in two sites: Site–1 of sand injection pipes (Fig. 1) and Site–2 of polygonal to semi-circular sand injectites (Fig. 2). These unique sand bodies are prominent in the two sites probably preserved by recent prevailing sandstorms and high rate of sedimentation; however, scarce rather smaller forms are documented in the vicinity of the Bahrah coastal plains. The sand injection pipes of Site–1 demonstrate a complex internal and external structure facilitated by a complex bio-geochemical process to date still debatable. However, sand features of Site–2 represent reddish/brownish to yellowish lithified elongated and undulating polygonal pattern in the terrain as lithified sand volcanoes that resembles Mar’s surface.

Unfortunately, these sites are found in open and accessible camping areas and are threatened to be destroyed by people who aren’t self-aware of their significance and importance. It will be very challenging to protect these geological features in Kuwait from destruction, but their significance globally and locally warrants the effort. We believe these rare and unique geological sites can be a good candidate and hotspots for Geotourism. Therefore, we reached out to the Kuwait Environmental Public Authority and requested to protect these geological sites as geological heritage areas and to be listed in the UNESCO Global Geopark.

REFERENCE CITED

Al-Hajeri, M. M., A. Amer, D. Djawair, D. Green, and M. Al-Naqi, 2020 Origin of enigmatic sand injectite outcrops associated with non-tectonic forced-folding structure in Bahrah area, northern Kuwait Bay: Marine and Petroleum Geology, v. 115, 104268.