Volcanic Geoheritage for Geohazard Resilience an Unexplored Opportunity in Pristine Natural Environment: Harrat Lunayyir, Saudi Arabia

The Lunayyir Volcanic Field (Harrat Lunayyir) is situated on the western edge of the Arabian Microplate and represents a Quaternary volcanic area, containing ~150 vol-canoes formed from ~700 vents. The field includes effusive types—primarily pāhoehoe and ‘a‘ā lava flows—as well as explosive features such as spatter ramparts and mul-ti-crater scoria cones. Effusive eruptions are most prevalent and have long-term ef-fects, while explosive eruptions are generally low in intensity, although some have reached Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) 4 and dispersed ash over distances up to 250 km. Research suggests that recognizing the area's geoheritage and geodiversity may contribute to volcanic hazard resilience efforts. Possible strategies include geoconser-vation, hazard education, managed visitation, and creation of a geoheritage reserve to maintain current site conditions. Volcanic hazards in this area arise from dispersed monogenetic volcanic fields with eruption recurrence rates that span centuries to mil-lennia, complicating hazard communication. While infrequent, eruptions can affect regional assets. Communicating such hazards can be supported by the area's docu-mented volcanic geoheritage. In the northern development sector, 26 geosites have been catalogued, with 22 associated with the Quaternary basaltic volcanic field. Each geosite reflects a potential volcanic hazard and contributes to the basis for hazard re-silience planning.