The following pages are dedicated to my former students whom I taught between 1982 and 1994 at the Department of Earth Sciences, Garyounis University (BU), Benghazi, Libya, now renamed "University of Benghazi." At the time, we conducted several field excursions for upper class students to desolate regions in the country where the basement and intraformational igneous rocks abound. I immensely enjoyed the company of these aspiring junior geologists and appreciated their interaction as they continued to show not only enthusiasm and high spirits in the face of harsh desert environment that confined them to the bare necessities of life, but as well, a strong desire to learn, excel, and maintain curiosity and courage. After graduation, many of these students had excellent careers as geologists, geophysicists, and even as heads of departments in oil companies and other entities such as the General Water Authority and the Great Man Made River Authority (GMMRA); some went into private business while others pursued academia and finished post-graduate studies at reputable universities abroad. A few were so ambitious and pursued their own Ph.D.'s and came back to teach at the same department they graduated from. These individuals proved the strength of a hard working generation and told of the great success that can be achieved when destiny drives one to cross path with better circumstance.
Field work in the remote parts of the country, which these pages are only a minute part of its outcome, could not have been carried out without the support and assistance of many government entities and individuals. The initial work in the early 1970's was facilitated by the Department of Geological and Geophysical Research, Industrial Research Centre (IRC), Tripoli, under the able and professional leadership of the Late Mr. Faisal Zayed Ali, a respected colleague and friend, and by the Department of Geology, University of Tripoli, of which I was a staff member. During the 1980's, logistics and support were provided by the Garyounis University, the Libyan Armed Forces and Police in Sebha, Aouzou and Al'Kufra, the Libyan Arab Airlines Club in Sebha, and by the Exploration Division of the Arabian Gulf Oil Company (AGOCO, Benghazi), then headed by Mr. Ahmed Asbaly. On two excursions to eastern Tibesti, I had the good company of two colleagues, Dr. Ali El-Makhrouf and Dr. Bashir Youshah (both of the University of Tripoli). Mr. Saad Bumatari, one of my former students and now head of the GIS Department at the GMMRP in Benghazi, lent us his expertise of (sand dune) driving during a 1986 excursion to Al'Oweinat region. I am also indebted to my colleagues at the Universities of Tripoli, Sebha, and Benghazi for their moral support.
To all of the above-mentioned, I extend a note of gratitude, sincere thanks and appreciation.
Remote Geographic Setting, but!
Other than small scattered outcrops of basement rocks that are relatively accessible, the bulk of the Precambrian basement of Libya lies remotely in the most southern parts of the country where accessibility is strenuous and difficult at best. Several government and private universities have sprung up in recent years, but only a few offer braod, field supported geology curricula. As field geology is commonly confined to two courses prior to graduation, most of it is carried out in the backyard of the universities requiring them. In the eastern part of the country for instance, students are exposed almost entirely to carbonate geology where massive Eocene to Miocene formations cover the larger part of Al Jabal Al Akhdar uplift. Many graduates receive their diplomas, but have never seen a basement or intra-formational igneous rock in the field or been exposed to on-hand tectonics affecting the foundation of Libyan geology! Remoteness of varied geology regions and lack of essential resources to reach them do hamper the effort to expand.
This site touches only lightly on geology of the basement of Libya in the hope that it spurs some interest in the fascinating and diverse aspects of our southern regions, where not only crystalline basement of igneous and metamorphic rocks and tectonics are preponderant, but also Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks, Tertiary ring complexes, Tertiary-Quaternary basalts and associated rocks, and recent sand dune belts—all offering breathtaking exposures and opportunities to expand one’s geological horizons, curiosity, and vision.
The following pages are not meant to present a summary of the geology of the Precambrian basement of Libya or its subsequent intra-formational igneous rocks, but rather some chosen, but brief highlights of the subject. These highlights might appear in places to be fragmentary, and such is partly deliberate. This site is aimed at our undergraduate students of geology in all Libyan universities in light of the fact that such rocks and their fabric and structure on all scales may not be readily attainable for view in the classroom or accessible in terms of field trips inasmuch as these components lie in remote areas far away from where the universities are located.
We aspire to raise the curiosity of our junior geologists and have them exposed to some real, local examples of what they might have seen on pages of their textbooks during the course of their undergraduate programs.
يهدف هذا الموقع لتعريف طلبة أقسام علوم الأرض بالجامعات الليبية بجزء يسير من جيولوجية القاعدة الصخرية في ليبيا لعصر ماقبل الـ كامبري ومكوناتها التراكيبية على مستوياتها المختلفة وما إستقرّ فوق هذه القاعدة أو إخترقها من مكونات أخرى ذات منشأ صهيري أحدث عمرا. ولانزعم هنا أن هذا المحتوى يقدم ملخصا للموضوع المتشعب الأطراف فهذا الأخير متسع بلا ريب لدراسات كثيرة معمقة لطلبة الماجستير والدكتوراه والمهتمين بالبنية الأساسية لما تحت الظاهر من أقدم الصخور الرسوبية عمرا .
تقدم هذه الصفحات لمسات سريعة لبعض ماتمت دراسته وملاحظته وقد تبدو هذه الإطلالات غير متماسكة في مجملها وبعض ذلك متعمدٌ أصلا غير أنه يصب فيما يؤمل من إثارة فضول أبنائنا طلبة علوم الأرض ودارسيها والقائمين على برامجهم التعليمية بالجامعات الليبية ودفعهم لتناول موضوع صخور وتراكيب القاعدة وما يخترقها وما فوقها من صخور باطنية وسطحية لاحقة ببعض الإهتمام الذي تستحقه مدركين بلا ريب صعوبة الوصول إلى أماكن تواجدها في عمق الصحراء في الجنوب الليبي والوسط وليس إستحالتها قطعًا. ولأن ما هو مقدّمٌ هنا لا يمثل أوراقا في مؤتمرات أو مادة للعرض في قاعات الدراسة فإن بعض الرّسوم أو الصور التوضيحية قد لا تشير إلى أسهم الشمال أو مقياس المساحة المعروضة (كما هو المعتاد جيولوجياً) أو توصيفًا (captions) لكل ما تم عرضه من أشكال أو صور . ولنفس ماذكر فإنه لم يعرض ملخص للدراسات السابقة في مواضيع هذا الموقع خاصّة أنه لم يستعمل منها إلا ماتم إسناده إلى موضعه. غير أنه تجدر الإشارة إلى دراسات جيولوجية في تيبيستي قام بها رواد جيولوجيين لدرجة الدكتوراه يُخص بالذكر منهم د. محمد غومه (توفّاه الله) ، د. علي المخروف ، ود. أسماعيل السويح وكلهم من جامعة طرابلس.
