[meteorite-list] Wabar Crater Under Threat From Vandals

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From: Norman Lehrman <nlehrman_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:31:21 2004
Message-ID: <20040209113239.68986.qmail_at_web80109.mail.yahoo.com>

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Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

List,

Mike is right. This story hasn't even a grain of truth. The Wabar craters never were anything like this description, and now, they are almost totally covered by sand. I just aquired a fine lot of Wabar impactites from someone who has visited the site within the last two months. There is virtually nothing to see. The new impactites were totally unexpected, but came from a small blow-out in an interdune corridor. (Check them out at http://tektitesource.com). I'm currently in the high Andes of Chile, so Wabar glass orders will have to wait until my return in early March. Be ready for some great new impactites--I'm headed to Argentina tomorrow to aquire a lot of Argentine Escoria. As far as I know, this will be the first batch to be offered on the market!

Norm Lehrman

Michael Farmer <meteoritehunter_at_comcast.net> wrote:
This is not true! Waber is 18 hours in the sand dunes, and is small craters,
not larger than Meteor Crater.
What crap is this? Anyone elaborate?
Mike Farmer
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ron Baalke"
To: "Meteorite Mailing List"
Sent: Sunday, February 08, 2004 10:47 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Wabar Crater Under Threat From Vandals

>
>
> http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=39241&d=9&m=2&y=2004
>
> Wabar Crater Under Threat From Vandals
> Arab News
> February 9, 2004
>
> JEDDAH - Saudi Arabia has 'nothing' to offer the world
> tourist. Whole deserts full of it. It has captivated the imagination of
> explorers and visionaries for millennia and it is beginning to lose the
very
> quality that makes it special; the absence of everything else.
>
> One of Saudi Arabia's greatest geological wonders, essentially a large
hole
> in the ground, has finally proved too tempting as a rubbish tip. The Wabar
> Crater is becoming a tourist attraction but is also attracting the
attention
> of graffiti writers and depositors of garbage.
>
> As part of the process of making this tectonic treasure much more
accessible
> and open to all to wonder at, paved roads now lead to the very edge of the
> rim, affording a stunning view into the now dry lake bed 350 meters below.
> The crater stretches over 2 km from rim to rim, far bigger than the meteor
> impact site that is a major tourist attraction in Arizona. On the night of
a
> full moon, the pure white salt of the lake bed glows as if lit from
within,
> throwing a crepuscular glow onto the stark cliffs around.
>
> A few meters from the rim, lies a field of black lava, textured with
> bas-relief ripples and swirls as if still liquid. Moonlight glistens on
the
> semi-polished surface of the flows, silvering the furrows and smooth
curves.
> Small caves, the result of huge burst bubbles of superheated steam, lie
> open, roofs partly collapsed allowing rare views inside the lava mass.
> Smaller caves and fissures are home to foxes and small mammals, their
tracks
> in the windblown sand betraying their occupancy.
>
> The total silence is broken only by the gentle rustle of a blue plastic
> carrier bag as it tumbles in the night breeze, or the staccato clatter of
an
> aluminum can rolled over the cliff by a playful zephyr.
>
> The national tourist drive which provided the roads, has also spawned a
rash
> of startlingly ugly white rectangular sheds, placed there as protection
from
> the sun and for families to relax in and enjoy the scene. Large
> white-painted surfaces also attract the semi-literate with their
spraycans.
> All of the white surfaces - and even the blue road signs indicating the
> route to the crater - now display the scrawl of the graffiti writers. Some
> have even ventured into the crater, leaving evidence of their passing
> splashed on the cliff walls.
>
> In August last year, Prince Sultan ibn Salman, secretary-general of the
> Supreme Commission for Tourism, said he believes that tourism will grow
from
> the bottom up. He sees a future where towns and villages will be able to
> form a tourism council and develop a local tourist industry. By involving
> the local people in the commerce of tourism and letting them benefit from
it
> financially, he said, they will realize its benefits.
>
> "They will also protect it. No one can protect the industry except people
> who feel that it is theirs," he said. "It's a new decentralized approach -
> the government within five years will literally be out of your hair.
That's
> what's planned, it's what we have announced and it's what the Council of
> Ministers has agreed on."
>
> These are impressive objectives and there are places in the Kingdom that
> equal any of the heavily protected World Heritage Sites found elsewhere on
> the planet.
>
> The man with the spraycan or the individual who is willing to dump a
> truckload of industrial garbage in a beauty spot clearly has no
> understanding of the value of the site and is ahead of the game. His
efforts
> to leave his own unique "footprints in the sands of time" have overtaken
> attempts at conservation through restriction of access or by educating
> people to appreciate their heritage.
>
> The individual who litters with drinks cans and plastic bags is willfully
> careless of the fact that others, who have the same wish to visit a site
of
> great beauty, might not wish to sit in a half-eaten kabsa or swat
itinerant
> plastic bags. If this behavior goes on for five years, the damage to the
> tourist attraction might be so great that it cannot be reversed.
>
> "It's nothing to be ashamed of if you are selective about the kind of
> tourist you want, especially in a country like Saudi Arabia," said Prince
> Sultan. "We are not the kind of country that has to have tourists at any
> cost or at any price."
>
> Again, these are right and noble ideals. But the sad truth is that until
> environmental education gets through to the average citizen, the unique
> wilderness heritage of the Kingdom will be under greater threat from the
> indigenous rather than the foreign tourist.
>
> It seems that as long as a carload of individuals can drive right to the
> edge of the crater, treat it as a dining area or rubbish tip and then
> disappear back home with ease thanks to an open road, the preservation of
> the wilderness will be under threat. Its survival requires responsibility
> and an appreciation of nature that some people simply do not have.
>
> ______________________________________________
> Meteorite-list mailing list
> Meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com
> http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>

______________________________________________
Meteorite-list mailing list
Meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com
http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
--0-1282928240-1076326359=:68626
Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii

<DIV>List,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Mike is right.  This story hasn't even a grain of truth.  The Wabar craters never were anything like this description, and now, they are almost totally covered by sand.  I just aquired a fine lot of Wabar impactites from someone who has visited the site within the last two months.  There is virtually nothing to see.  The new impactites were totally unexpected, but came from a small blow-out in an interdune corridor. (Check them out at <A href="http://tektitesource.com">http://tektitesource.com</A>).  I'm currently in the high Andes of Chile, so Wabar glass orders will have to wait until my return in early March.  Be ready for some great new impactites--I'm headed to Argentina tomorrow to aquire a lot of Argentine Escoria.  As far as I know, this will be the first batch to be offered on the market!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Norm Lehrman Michael Farmer <meteoritehunter_at_comcast.net> wrote:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">This is not true! Waber is 18 hours in the sand dunes, and is small craters, not larger than Meteor Crater. What crap is this? Anyone elaborate? Mike Farmer ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ron Baalke" <BAALKE_at_ZAGAMI.JPL.NASA.GOV> To: "Meteorite Mailing List" <METEORITE-LIST@METEORITECENTRAL.COM> Sent: Sunday, February 08, 2004 10:47 PM Subject: [meteorite-list] Wabar Crater Under Threat From Vandals > > > http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=39241&d=9&m=2&y=2004 > > Wabar Crater Under Threat From Vandals > Arab News > February 9, 2004 > > JEDDAH - Saudi Arabia has 'nothing' to offer the world > tourist. Whole deserts full of it. It has captivated the imagination of > explorers and visionaries for millennia and it is beginning to lose the very >
quality that makes it special; the absence of everything else. > > One of Saudi Arabia's greatest geological wonders, essentially a large hole > in the ground, has finally proved too tempting as a rubbish tip. The Wabar > Crater is becoming a tourist attraction but is also attracting the attention > of graffiti writers and depositors of garbage. > > As part of the process of making this tectonic treasure much more accessible > and open to all to wonder at, paved roads now lead to the very edge of the > rim, affording a stunning view into the now dry lake bed 350 meters below. > The crater stretches over 2 km from rim to rim, far bigger than the meteor > impact site that is a major tourist attraction in Arizona. On the night of a > full moon, the pure white salt of the lake bed glows as if lit from within, > throwing a crepuscular glow onto the stark cliffs around. > > A few
meters from the rim, lies a field of black lava, textured with > bas-relief ripples and swirls as if still liquid. Moonlight glistens on the > semi-polished surface of the flows, silvering the furrows and smooth curves. > Small caves, the result of huge burst bubbles of superheated steam, lie > open, roofs partly collapsed allowing rare views inside the lava mass. > Smaller caves and fissures are home to foxes and small mammals, their tracks > in the windblown sand betraying their occupancy. > > The total silence is broken only by the gentle rustle of a blue plastic > carrier bag as it tumbles in the night breeze, or the staccato clatter of an > aluminum can rolled over the cliff by a playful zephyr. > > The national tourist drive which provided the roads, has also spawned a rash > of startlingly ugly white rectangular sheds, placed there as protection from > the sun and for
families to relax in and enjoy the scene. Large > white-painted surfaces also attract the semi-literate with their spraycans. > All of the white surfaces - and even the blue road signs indicating the > route to the crater - now display the scrawl of the graffiti writers. Some > have even ventured into the crater, leaving evidence of their passing > splashed on the cliff walls. > > In August last year, Prince Sultan ibn Salman, secretary-general of the > Supreme Commission for Tourism, said he believes that tourism will grow from > the bottom up. He sees a future where towns and villages will be able to > form a tourism council and develop a local tourist industry. By involving > the local people in the commerce of tourism and letting them benefit from it > financially, he said, they will realize its benefits. > > "They will also protect it. No one can protect the industry except
people > who feel that it is theirs," he said. "It's a new decentralized approach - > the government within five years will literally be out of your hair. That's > what's planned, it's what we have announced and it's what the Council of > Ministers has agreed on." > > These are impressive objectives and there are places in the Kingdom that > equal any of the heavily protected World Heritage Sites found elsewhere on > the planet. > > The man with the spraycan or the individual who is willing to dump a > truckload of industrial garbage in a beauty spot clearly has no > understanding of the value of the site and is ahead of the game. His efforts > to leave his own unique "footprints in the sands of time" have overtaken > attempts at conservation through restriction of access or by educating > people to appreciate their heritage. > > The individual who litters with drinks cans and
plastic bags is willfully > careless of the fact that others, who have the same wish to visit a site of > great beauty, might not wish to sit in a half-eaten kabsa or swat itinerant > plastic bags. If this behavior goes on for five years, the damage to the > tourist attraction might be so great that it cannot be reversed. > > "It's nothing to be ashamed of if you are selective about the kind of > tourist you want, especially in a country like Saudi Arabia," said Prince > Sultan. "We are not the kind of country that has to have tourists at any > cost or at any price." > > Again, these are right and noble ideals. But the sad truth is that until > environmental education gets through to the average citizen, the unique > wilderness heritage of the Kingdom will be under greater threat from the > indigenous rather than the foreign tourist. > > It seems that as long as a carload of
individuals can drive right to the > edge of the crater, treat it as a dining area or rubbish tip and then > disappear back home with ease thanks to an open road, the preservation of > the wilderness will be under threat. Its survival requires responsibility > and an appreciation of nature that some people simply do not have. > > ______________________________________________ > Meteorite-list mailing list > Meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com > http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > ______________________________________________ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list</BLOCKQUOTE>
--0-1282928240-1076326359=:68626--
Received on Mon 09 Feb 2004 06:32:39 AM PST

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