Vice President with Chirman of Board During visited The Geological Museum

The importance of the geological museum comes from educating the different groups of society to meet the meaning of culture and its diversity to cover several sciences and arts and not being focused on one’s specialization. All of us know that geology is avery wide science and that it covers a very long history longer than that of the other museums which cover the history of human civilization period only. Realizing the great importance of the geological museums weather in the cultural, education or economic aspects, the Ministry of Oil and Minerals represented by the GSMRB has made its efforts to establish the first geological museum in Yemen since 1999. This scientific and cultural accomplishment was carried out and the museum was established as sub-department within the General Department for information in the board.

The museum is consisted of several departments working on collecting and studying the samples and the ancient tools of mining activities. Moreover, and rock they work on receiving different mineral samples for the engineers and citizens, arranging and showing them, after that ensuring safety measures for them. All that along with receiving visitors: schools students, universities students, citizens and interested people.

They are also making efforts to motivate people’s creativeness and innovation. So the methods and ways of teaching sciences and presenting information have been changed.The scientific muesums are the most recent way of extending providing science, knowledge and culture among all the groups of society.

From this very point indicating the importance of establishing such scientific and specialized museums. And upon the great rule that the geological museum in extending science and knowledge and in introducing Yemen’s rocks and minerals to our generations of schools and universities students.
considered to be the first station for each investor, visiter, researcher and learner; and at the same time it constitutes the wide little of the geological view of our country and the wealth of resources it contains.

This project include samples of the traditional industries related to local raw materials, old mining tools, local services, samples of constructional and industrial rocks, metallic and nonmetallic minerals, precious stones in addition to several local and external exhibits.It`s considered to be the first station for each investor, visiter, researcher and learner; and at the same time it constitutes the wide little of the geological view of our country and the wealth of resources it contains.

The geological museum is generally aiming to develop the general knowledge of people in society through introducing information about old mining history, geology, natural resources of Yemen Republic and to provide geological knowledge to Yemeni citizen to make familiar with their country’s resources and precious treasures together with making others more familiar with the available investment fields in natural resources.

The objectives of the museum can be concluded as the following:

- Developing the scientific and geological knowledge of the visitors.
Facilitating the scientific concepts for students.
- Performing promotional role for the available opportunities of investing in the field of minerals, cement industry, rocks, building stones and other industries depended on row material.
- Filing and archiving the scientific history (history of sciences) and exhibiting it.
- Carrying out researches and studies related to different sciences.
- Collecting samples and excavating them, then preparing them for exhibition and maintaining them.
- Preparing educational samples of rocks, minerals and ancient fossils and exihiting them or denoting them to schools, universities or different bodies and selling some of them to interested people.
- Developing children sense of knowledge through making them like sciences and motivating them to do things upon their own initiatives besides, discovering creativity.
- Carrying out lectures, workshops, conferences and studies about scientific and monumentum discoveries.
- Arranging training courses (classroom programs) for teachers and university students under supervision of scientifically specialized people with museum enivornment that ensures the utmost benefit.
- Arranging visiting programs and inviting different bodies to do that.
- Arranging field visit program to specific places with scientific importance such as the places of fossilize minerals, rocks and geological and natural reservations.

The targeted types by the project can be concluded as the following:
- Young people, schools students and teachers.
- Undergraduates.
- Postgraduates.
- Scientific researchers.
- The average man.
- Amateur and interested people.
- Engineers/ technicians.
- Tourists.
- Investors.

The historical exhibits are divided into two main kinds:
The exhibits of the ancient mining:
This kind is consisted of mineral sample and the wastes of ovens, the tools that were used by ancient Yemenis in mining during mining processes such as mills used to crush and milling the raw material containing gold and which was found in Al-Lawdh mountain, and some rock samples containing lead and silver found near by the ancient mines were also shown.

The Traditional industries exhibits:
This kind includes the industries in which local materials were used such as Yajor (baked bricks), An-Norah (lime), earthenware, Joss (Gypsum), and pots of serbintine metal. All such industries reflect skills of the ancient Yemenis and who they were of the first people to exploit their natural resources besides reflecting their harmony with the geological environment. Such industries spreaded over the country’s different areas and last to our time.

The geological structure of Yemen is related to the regional structure of the Arabic board in its different stages of development, yet it is distinguished for regional features during the sequence of the geological times from the ancient time to the present time. When looking at the rocks samples of Yemen, it should be taken in consideration the time range and the influential factors affected them such as weathering, orison and tectonic (structural) factors affected the rock structure in Yemen.

Yemen’s rocks are shown by two ways:
The first depending on the circle of rocks (igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic) which happens as a result of the influence of the geological factors such as weathering, transmitting, sedimentation, heat, pressure, melting and crystallizing. The rocks of Yemen are classified according to this way, as the following:

• The igneous rocks: granite, pyroxenite, syenite, granodiorite, gabbro, Basalt, trachy andesite, and obicidian.
• The sedimentary rocks: limestone, sandstone, clay, gypsum, breccias, salt, coral reefs.
• The metamorphic rocks: marble, schist, quartzite.

The second way is depending on the sequence of time. Rocks are shown according to their geological age in a glass box beginning with the oldest rocks in age (about 600 million year), then the rocks of the ancient life epochs (Paleozoic) and the rocks of middle life epochs (Mesozoic), and finally the rocks of the modern life epochs (Cenozoic) the tertiary and quaternary volcanic rocks and the modern(recent) sedimentation rocks.

These exhibits include samples of local and foreign rocks, and industrial rocks collected from several areas of the Republic. They are labeled, arranged and shown in a way that facilitates recognizing them by the average man. There exhibits are divided into:

Metallic minerals: Gold, Copper, Iron, Lead, Zinc, Manganese.
Non-metallic minerals: including Graphite, Barite, Mica, Quartz, Zeolite, Bentonite, Beryl, Asbestos, Feldspar, Calcite, Celestite.
Foreign rocks and minerals: including the following:
Sulphur, Bauxite, Dolomite, Bentonite (Iraq), Limestone, Glassy sand, clay, Phosphate (Jordan), bauxite (Oman), Chromites raw material, manganese raw material, Amphibolites, coal, Phosphate, Iron raw material, Gypsum, Quartzy sand, clay, Marble (Syria), Phosphate (Morocco), Rose quartz (Spain), Galena, Pink quartz (Brazil).
Industrial Rocks: including: Gypsum, Dolomite, Limestone, Sandstone ,Basalt,perlite,Barite, Obsidian and pumice.

Yemen is well known for precious stones and semi-precious stones, Yemenis made their efforts from the old ages to exploit such resources locally or in exporting them for they are marketable in foreign countries.

The visitor of Yemen may not leave Yemen without taking a ring, bracelet or a piece of such jewelry. The geologically museum did it best to gain and show what it could do weather local or foreign samples. These exhibits are divided into:

Local: including carnelian, sky agate, honey agate, opal, gasber, flourite, onyx.
Foreign: including tobaz, sitrin, Lazord, labradorite, turquoise, moon stone.

The visitor of the museum notes the beauty of such different rocks used in building and decorating houses in different areas of Yemen including marble and granite. These exhibits are shown in colored atlas indicating these kinds and photos of buildings constructed by such rocks. They reflect the wealth of Yemen of such rocks. They are distinguished among the building stones in the world for they vary in technical specifications and in their colors reflecting in the same time the beautiful unique architecture in Yemen.

They are divided into:
Building stones: including Limestone, rayolite, quartzit …….. etc.
Decoration stones: including granite, marble, onyx marble, oliven, basalt,…. etc.

Including diverse group of fossils: fossilized plants and mollusca family members, echinodermata, cronoidea, etc. in addition, some photos of the footprint of the dinasor that was found in Serwah, Arhab Sana’a Governorate and the GSMRB carried out a primary study on the site under the directions of the high officials of the Board besides making a fence around it to not lose such scientific and international remains because of factors of damage such as erosion, weathering or being damaged by people.

Dinasour footprint in limestone, (Arhab-Sana'a)

There are some little kinds of exihibts that can not be included in specific category like scare samples, famous samples, or samples indicating a state under study geological phenomenon or specific geological structure. It also includes educational exhibits in addition to fossilized samples. Such exhibits are classified as the following:

• Educational exhibits: including relief illustrations (for: remote sensing model , rocks cycle model, volcanism model and how it is formed, and for the earth and its layers), maps, photos of buildings, mines and geological sites, satellite photos, formative photos and general information.
• Typical samples: indicating specific geological situation such as structures (textures, volcanic leakage folds), rock tissues, effects of weathering factors, typical samples like quartz crystal 45 in length, volcanic bomb…etc.
• Sample of geographical fame: samples that were brought from remote areas of Yemen such as samples of basalt were brought from Zoqar Island. And Honaish islands and others of sulphur were brought from Jabal-at-Tair island in the Red sea.
• Rare samples: including Yefe’ meteoric: is a meteoric recently fell down (15 June, 2000) in Yafe’ Ma’araban valley the major part of it was collected after two hours of the crash. Its weight is 700g.
• Camberlite rock: it was brought from South Africa. Its age returns to the ancient age before 600 million year. It is one of the complex rocks of the Cambrian age which contains diamond.

An approperiate area was assigned to each investor working in building and decorating stones production and the other industries depending on natural and mineral materials. Some investors did respond and exihibt their products in this field. There are now six investor who responded since they were informed in med the year 2005. the museum will be provided by this action with ready goods in return of being a promotional way for the investors introducing their products to the public. We hope the number will increase and at the sametime to assign a more exihibtion area of the geological museum