Geologie a nerostné suroviny Jordánska

Oficiální název zní Jordánské hášimovské království. Jordánsko je konstituční monarchií, hlavou státu je král Abdullah bin Al-Hussein (Abdullah II.), ministerským předsedou je Faisal al-Fayez. Hlavním městem je Ammán. Rozloha státu je 89,206 km2, žije zde asi 5.46 milionů obyvatel. Národnostní složení je tvořeno z 90% Araby, dále Čečeny, Armény a Beduíny. Hlavním náboženstvím je islám, v zemi žijí 4% křesťanů. Hlavními průmyslovými odvětvími jsou těžba ropy, nerostných surovin, zemědělství a cestovní ruch. Hrubý národní produkt je 3.500 USD na osobu, hlavními hospodářskými partnery jsou Indie, Saúdská Arábie, SAE, Evropská unie, USA a Irák. Úředním jazykem je arabština a angličtina. V Jordánsku se používá metrická soustava měrných jednotek

Located in the northwestern part of the Arabian peninsula, about 95 percent of Jordan's territory is underlain by sedimentary rocks, which attain a thickness of more than 12 km in the Jordan Rift Graben. Further to the east, in the Azraq and Risha areas, sedimentary rocks are approximately seven kilometers thick. Most of the country is thought to be covered by four to five kilometers of sediments. The section overlying its crystalline basement consists of units ranging in the age from late Proterozoic to Holocene.

In its simplest form , the geology of Jordan consists of a sequence of mainly marine sediments, which surround a small area of Precanmbrian crystalline outcrop in the southwestern part of the country and thicken toward the north and east. In outcrop, close to the Precambrian core, the units are thin and separated by many inconformities. Proceeding in the basin-ward direction, the inconformities diminish as more and more of the units missing in the outcrop are encountered.

Structurally, Jordan can be divided into a series of broad, plateau- lime arches and gentle desert covered basins. The basics tectonic features, which developed at different and rates, are intersected by long, essentially linear graben and half graben, along which significant strike slip movement has occurred. The most fundamental of these linear fault zones strike northwest, parallel to the Red Sea trend. They are cut off obliquely by the Red Sea Rift Trend. They are cut off obliquely by the Dead Sea Rift trend striking north and northeast. The Dead Sea rift, for example, is a tertiary feature with left lateral displacement of over 100 km. It is technically linked to the Red Sea spread Centre and the Gulf of Suez Graben system, with its oil-productive horst feature. The Dead Sea Rift forms the western boundary of the Arabian Plate and transforms spreading in the Red Sea to compression in the TaurusZagros compressional margin. In Jordan, the Dead Sea Rift has a significant extensional component , giving rise to both the subsea depressions in Jordan Valley and the thick late tertiary sediments that underlie the valley. Several sub-basins occur along the rift and probably contain up to 12000 m in of section.

Tectonic trends within the late Paleozoic and Mesozoic basins were largely controlled by transgressive regressive movements within the Tethys seaways entering from the north.

The basalt plateau is covered by 11415 sq. km. of thin basalt over a basin which known from regional considerations to contain a thick Mesozoic section, as well as known Paleozoic elements beneath it. Direct natural evidence for the existence of oil in Jordan is provided by surface occurrence of oil and gas seepage's, bituminous calcareous sediments, asphalt and tar sand. Some of these features have been famous since the beginning of recorded history.

Resources of Jordan - more on:

http://www.nra.gov.jo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32&Itemid=42

http://www.nra.gov.jo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5&Itemid=164