Najeeb M.A. Rasul obtained a Ph.D. in Geological Oceanography from the University of Wales, Swansea, U.K. He was with the Faculty of Marine Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, before joining the Saudi Geological Survey, where he was a Technical Adviser until 2022, and Head of the Center for Marine Geology from 2003 to 2010. He has held key research positions at the Geological and Geophysical Research Systems in Canada, the Challenger Division for Seafloor Processes at the Southampton Oceanography Centre, currently NOC, Southampton, and Environment Canada. He has conducted research cruises with European Union research centres, including the Institute of Marine Sciences (ISMAR), Italy, to the Red Sea and the IOC-UNESCO (TTR programme) in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. He was a EUROMARGINS and Saudi Scientific Coordinator. He has also been involved in research projects as chief scientist and principal investigator in the Western Basin of Lake Erie, the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, and the Arabian Sea, and currently the Red Sea. His research interests have concentrated on both shallow and deepwater sedimentary processes, depositional mechanisms and environmental aspects.

Ian C.F. Stewart received a Ph.D. in seismology from the University of Adelaide, South Australia. He is an independent geophysical consultant based in Adelaide, and has worked for numerous mining and oil companies in Australia, the Middle East, and elsewhere. From 1974 until 1982, he was with the Department of Earth Sciences at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada, where he taught geophysics. He then carried out research for Saudi Aramco in the Exploration Department in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia from 1982 until 1996, and was in charge of the development and application of potential field methods throughout the Kingdom. Later he was involved in geophysical exploration in Australia. He was the Geophysical Technical Adviser to the Saudi Geological Survey (SGS), Jeddah, between 2003 and 2013, applying geophysical methods for mineral and groundwater exploration in the Kingdom, as well as carrying out earthquake studies. He is a member of several international organizations and has published numerous papers in addition to reports for the SGS, Saudi Aramco and other companies.