Devastated by the combined impact of massive drainage works and upstream damming since the 1980's, Al-Hammar Marsh, Southern Iraq, has completely collapsed with 94 % of its land cover transformed into bare land and salt crusts by 2000. After a policy initiated to restore the Iraqi marshes again in 2003, the marsh recovered about half of its former area. As a part of the ecological recovery assessment of this newly inundated marsh, it is important to investigate the extend impact of desiccation after 3 years of inundation on water quality as the latter plays an important role in the restoration process of the marshes. Therefore, from a restoration point of view, major and trace element distribution and sourcing as well as seasonal variations were studied in the re-flooded marsh of Al-Hammar. First, the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment Water Quality Index [1] analyses applied revealed threatened or impaired water quality and conditions in the marsh that depart from natural or desirable levels. Second, multivariate statistical techniques such as Agglomerative Hierarchal Cluster Analyses (AHCA) that were used to analyze the data and identify the possible sources of water pollution in the marsh indicated that some elements such as Ca, SO4, Mg, TDS, Cl, Na, Co, and Ni are associated with natural sourcing while other elements such as Cd, Zn, Pb, and turbidity indicated a possible anthropogenic sourcing. Third, seasonal variations investigation displayed that the water quality is affected by natural seasonal processes such as evaporation and rainfall as well as biological activities. Dry season exhibited an increase in TDS, Ca, Mg, Na, Cl, SO4, and Cd due to the concentration by evaporation during the season compared to the dilution by rainfall during the wet season. In contrast, BOD and DO levels showed a considerable decrease in dry season owing to the poor water ability to hold oxygen at high temperature as a result of higher rate of microbial metabolism.
(15)
Parasitological investigation of piscivorous birds in Al-Hammar marsh south of Iraq during December-February 2004 and December 2005 were revealed that water birds infected with five nematode species, which belong to three different superfamilies, Desmidocercella numidica (Seurat, 1920) (Superfamily: Aproctoidea) from three piscivorous birds including Grey heron Ardea cinerea, Bittern Botaurusstellaris, and small white heron Ardeola ralloides; Avioserpens sp. 1 and Avioserpens sp. 2 (Superfamily: Dracunculoidea) from small bittern Ixobrychus minutus and black glossy ibis Plegadisfalcinellus respectively; Baruscapillaria sp. and Baruscapillarinae gen. sp. (Sup
... Show MoreThe present study aims to assess the water quality and the hydrochemical characteristics and seasonal variation of surface water on the aspect of trace elements in Al-Tarmiyah District, Baghdad, Iraq. Ten water samples were collected, four from surface water and six from groundwater on October 2017, and on April 2018. All samples were analyzed for physiochemical parameters such as water temperature, pH, EC, TDS,TH,TSS, major ions (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, SO42-, Cl-, and HCO3-), and nutrients (NO3-, and PO43-). In addition, samples were analyzed for trace elements that include Fe, Al, Pb, Zn, Mn, Cr,
... Show More
(1)
(4)
(1)
Biodiversity is one of the important biological factors in determining water quality and maintaining the
ecological balance. In this study, there are 223 species of phytoplankton were identified, and they are as
follows: 88 species of Bacillariophyta and were at 44%,70 species of Chlorophyta and they were at 29 %, 39
species of Cyanophyta and they were at 16 %, 12 species of Euglenozoa and they were at 4 %, four species of
Miozoa and they were at 3 %, and, Phylum Charophyta and Ochrophyta were only eight and two species,
respectively and both of them were at 2%. The common phytoplankton recorded in the sites studied
include Nitzschia palea, Scenedesmus quadricauda, Oscillatoria princeps, and Peridinium
(2)
(1)
Um-Al-Naaj region in Al-Hawiezah Marsh, Southern Iraq was chosen to study the environmental variations of some water characteristics during 2008, seasonally. The results showed clear seasonal changes in values of some environmental variables (temperature, depth, light penetration, turbidity, total suspended solids, pH, dissolved oxygen, reactive phosphate, reactive nitrite, and reactive nitrate), while there were no clear seasonal changes in electrical conductivity and salinity values. In addition, high nutrients concentrations and light penetration were noted. Statistical analysis showed significant positive relationship between air and water temperature; electrical conductivity and salinity. Water turbidity was significantly affecte
... Show More
The current study aims to find a new plan to manage the water quality of the western part of the Hammar Marsh to reduce the salts that cause problems for the marshes and preserve their environmental life by isolating the southwestern part of the Hammar Marsh by closing the outlet under the railway embankment. The outlet is discharging saline water to the east-western part of Al Hammar Marsh. After isolating the southwestern part of the marsh, a new outlet is proposed. The impact of the flow hydrodynamics on improving the water quality was simulated using the SMS model. The hydrodynamics and water quality simulation models for the marsh are : a hydrodynamic model and average depth (SMS RMA2) and a two-dimensional water quality model (SMS
... Show More
Five heavy metals, namely Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Pb in the surface water and through the water column were studied at 10 selected stations in the Razzazah lake and Karbala drainage canal for the period between November 1990 to October 1991*. pH and total hardness were also measured. Lead was found to be the highest in concentration as overall average values, followed by an manganese, iron, copper then cadmium at the surface as well as along the water column. All the studied metals were below or close to the maximum allowed limits of Iraqi standards for inland water. The spatial and seasonal variations were discussed.
The fish assemblage structure in Al-Huwaizah marsh, southern of Iraq was assessed. Fish samples collected monthly by different fishing means from period December 2017 to November 2018. A total of 28959 individual of fish belonging to 9 families and 19 species were collected, 11 of them of native species and 8 of alien
species. The numerical dominance index value (D3) of the highest three abundant species comprised 74.26% of the total fish caught, included Planiliza abu (Al-Keshny) 38.2% ; Coptodon zilli (Tilapia red abdomen) 29.41% and Carassius auratus (Prussian carp) 6.65%. The total weight of fish caught 2,190,680 tan, highest weight 312,242kg achieved in July, while lowest weight 41,590 kg found in&nb
(8)
(4)
Huwaiza marsh is considered the largest marsh in the southern part of Iraq. It is located between 31° and 31.75° latitude and extends over the Iraqi-Iranian border; but the largest part lies in Iraq. It is located to the east of Tigris River in Messan and Basra governorates.
In this research, the variation of some water quality parameters at different locations of Huwaiza marsh were studied to find out its efficacy in the treatment of the contamination coming from the wastewater outfall of Kahlaa brokendown sewage treatment plant which lies on the Kahlaa River. This rive is the main feeder of Huwaiza marsh. Ten water quality sampling locations were chosen in this marsh. The water samples were taken during 2009 for three months; Janu