CLOSE examination of images from earth satellites has revealed traces of an ancient river under the sands of Arabia, which originated in the Hijaz Mountains of western Saudi Arabia and flowed eastward more than 500 miles across the desert to the Arabian Gulf.
There it formed a delta that once covered much of Kuwait, according to Dr. Farouk El-Baz, director of the Center for Remote Sensing at Boston University, who reported the finding last week. He believes this explains the gravel found in much of Kuwait, formed from granite and volcanic basalt unrelated to local rocks. It now appears to have been carried across Arabia from the distant mountains.
Evidence for similar, partly hidden dried-up waterways had been found in space images of the Sahara. Those discoveries were verified by drilling through the sand and by using space-borne radar. Dr. El-Baz hopes similar observations can be made over Arabia by the space shuttle.
In the past, hidden rivers have proved a source of water. Dr. El-Baz pointed out that this could be the case in Saudi Arabia. He believes such rivers were formed during a relatively moist epoch that ended 5,000 years ago after enduring for 6,000 years. During that period, he said, what he calls the "Kuwait River" may have been as much as three miles wide and voluminous enough to produce a wide delta at its mouth that not only covered much of Kuwait but reached north toward Basra in Iraq.
In view of the arid climate of Saudi Arabia it is uncertain to what extent there may be a deep residue of water from the Kuwait River. Dr. El-Baz said the river's existence had not previously been recognized because much of its course is hidden by north-south dunes in the central part of the Arabian Peninsula.
Since thriving civilizations existed along the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates when the hypothesized river flowed, it too may have supported civilizations and may produce some archeological remains, Dr. El-Baz said.
Map of the Mideast shoiwng location of the ancient hidden river.