Fifty five surface and subsurface soil samples were taken from the area between Tigris and Euphrates Rivers along the Main Drain course from north Baghdad to Basrah to evaluate the geochemical, physical characteristics and the probability contamination of these samples. The study area is covered by Quaternary sediments of complex alternation of sand, silt and clay. Significant variation in the textural content of the present soils is observed, where the northern and southern parts are characterized by silt predominance, while sand is prevailing in the central parts as a result of the extensive spreading of aeolian deposits represented mostly by sand dunes. Mineralogical analysis explains wide variations in the heavy minerals distribution

       The lithostratigraphic and biostratigraphic studies of the Shiranish Formation in the Diana area, Erbil, Northern Iraq, were conducted to distinguish the main lithostratigraphic units, depositional environment and the formation age. The Shiranish Formation in the study area can be divided into three rock units. The lower and upper units consist of marly limestone, marl and limestone deposited in the outer shelf environment, while the middle unit is dominated by laminated calcareous shale and marl deposited in the upper bathyal environment. Calcareous nannofossils showed the presence of about 20 species/genera in the studied Shiranish Formation. Three biozones are identified; Misceomarginatus pleniporus biozone;

This study deals with the petrology of Injana Formation (Upper Miocene) at
Zawita, Amadia and Zakho areas. The sandstone of Injana Formation is of two
typesnamely, litharenite and feldspathiclitharenite. The rock fragments of Injana
Formation are mostly sedimentary and hence the sandstones are classified as
sedarenite and more specifically chertarenite owing to the predominance of chert
rock fragments. The sandstone is mineralogicallysubmature rangingfrom
mechanically and chemically stable tounstable. The petrographic studies reveal
nearness of source area with arid to semi-arid climate. The source rocks are
sedimentary, low- to medium-grade metamorphic and basic volcanic rocks. They are
mostly supplied from th

The use of Right dihedral method, Lisle graph, and Mohr diagram allows the analysis of the paleostress. Fault slip data were measured for eighteen data of two stations located within Chia Gara structure in Dohuk area in the High Folded Zone, Northern Iraq. Depending on Mohr diagram, Bott equation, and vertical thickness, the magnitudes of the paleostress at the time of the tectonic activity were determined. Firstly, Georient Software was used to estimate the orientation of the paleostresses (σ1, σ2 and σ3). Secondly, using the rupture –friction law, taking into account the depth of the overburden, the vertical stress (σv) was calculated to determine the magnitude of the paleostresses in the study area. The values in st

     The mineralogical investigation, geochemical analysis, and grain size calculation were carried out for floodplain sediment in the Tigris River to identify the properties of the sediment. The average values of the three main sediment classes, very fine sand, silt, and clay are 9.67, 62.53 and 27.80%, respectively. The silt size fraction was predominant. The classification and nomenclature of surface sediment types from the floodplain of the Tigris River are sandy-silt and mud, and they are the dominant sediment. Statistical parameters of grain size analysis refer to the average of the median values 3.74 Φ very fine sand; mean in average 6.16 Φ coarse silt; standard deviation evident by average 1.30 Φ poorly sorted, skewed; in

Ostracode assemblages have been utilized for the study of the paleoecology of
the Maastrichtian – Upper Eocene succession (Hartha, Shiranish, Aaliji, Kolosh,
Jaddala and Avanah formations) in North and Iraq, represented by five sections,
including four boreholes, Anah well-2, Mityaha well-1, Makhul well-2,
Chemchemal well-2 and Jabel Sinjar outcrop section. According to the different
environmental factors affecting on the ostracode ecology, such as salinity, depth,
temperature, oxygenation, substrate and food supply; and depending on the
distribution of ostracode assemblages within the studied sections, nine ecofacies
have been recognized indicating shallow brackish or brackish- marine water, neritic
marine,

The quality of groundwater in the Al-Hawija area was assessed using a water quality index. Data of nine physico-chemical parameters of 28 groundwater wells were used to calculate the water quality index (WQI). A heterogeneous water quality was reported, where in close proximity to the Lesser Zab River (LZR), it has low WQI values and permissible for human consumptions due to the dilution processes by fresh water; whereas, it becomes deteriorated in areas located far away the river. The values of WQI ranges from 22 to 336, indicating a good to very poor groundwater quality.

The study area lies in the northern part of Iraq, This study depends on one scene of Thematic Mapper (TM5) data of Landsat, these data are subset by using region of interest (ROI) file within the ERDAS 9.2 software. RS and GIS have been used as tools for detecting the desertification during the periods 1990-2000-2009 by using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index NDVI, Water Index WI and Barren Land Index BLI. The indicators of Desertification which used in this study for period  1990-2000 and 2000-2009 are represented by decrease the vegetation cover and increase water body and barren land.

   The aim of this paper is to determine the capability of the ultrasonic technique to predicate and evaluate some elastic and geotechnical properties within sand stone layers. For this purpose, 15 rock samples were collected from Tanjero Formation that is exposed in Dokan area, northeastern Iraq. Elastic wave velocities (Vp and Vs)  and density (P) values for rock samples were determined by applying laboratory testing. From Vp, Vs, and density values, the porosity, elastic modulus, and some geotechnical parameters were calculated. The relationship between P wave velocity and elastic properties of samples was derived. Empirical equations were obtained by applying the regression analyses between Vp and the measured