Geologically, Jordan is located in the northwestern part of the Arabian Plate, (Figure 1) separated from the African Plate along the Aqaba-Dead Sea-Jordan Valley-Rift.  In its simplest form, the geology of the Jordan-Palestine area (Figure 2.2) consists of a sequence of mainly marine sediments, which surround a small area of Precambrian crystalline outcrop in the southwestern part of the area and thicken toward the north and east (Bender, 1974; Abed, 1982 and 1985). 

In outcrop, close to the Precambrian core, the units are thin and separated by many unconformities. The oldest igneous and metamorphic rocks of the Nubo-Arabian Shield of more than 600 million years in age are exposed in the southern and southwestern parts of Jordan (Precambrian Basement Complex).