Fifteen samples were collected from recent sediments grouping at 80 km east Samawa City, southern Iraq. Three selected samples for grain size analysis and twelve samples for chemical and biofacies analysis. Grain size analysis indicated that the sediment is mainly composed of the silt and clay with a small amount of sand. Most of the samples considered to be as clayey silt. The dominated non clay minerals are Quartz, Calcite, and Dolomite, while the clay minerals are composed of mixed Montmorillonite- Chlorite, Palygorskite, Illite and Kaolinite. Chemical analysis showed that all samples have high concentrations of SiO2 and CaO in comparison with Al2O3, MgO, Fe2O3, K2O and N2O. The identified faunas consist of a number of groups such as Mollusca, Ostracoda and Charophyta, all diagnosed genera indicated of fresh water environments. The results from all collected data are indicated that the sediments belong to flood plain deposits which deposited in fluviatile environments.
Gypsiferous soil deposits (Gypcrete) are weakly consolidate earthy mixture of secondary gypsum, sand and clay. It is formed in arid and semi- arid area with annual precipitation rainfall less than 400mm. These sediments occur in surface and subsurface in region of little rainfall and rapid evaporation. This research deals with the study of gypcrete in Alexandria to improve the mineralogical and geochemical properties of the gypcrete. The gypcrete soil is used as raw material to produce the plaster for building purposes. Three samples of gypcrete were chemically and geochemically analyzed. The common mineral is howed in 0-0.5m Gypsum followed by Calcite in 0-1m and Quartz in 1-1.5m due to leaching and infiltration by rainfall as well as it
... Show MoreA geochemical and environmental study was carried out for the sediments of the Southern Neo-Tethys Ocean, represented by the Yamama Formation (Berriasian-Valaganian) in southern Iraq. The formation has a particular reservoir importance. The typical WQ-220 and WQ-280 wells were selected from the West Qurna field. Data of Gamma-ray logs were used for 30 depths of the typical well. Ten core samples were analyzed by X-Ray Fluoresces and total organic matter from both wells. The results showed that shaliness was relatively low, with an average of 16.5%, leading to a decrease in the presence of clay minerals and trace elements because the environment of the Yamama Formation is relatively far away from the coast. Qualitative evaluation of clay
... Show MoreThe distributions of rivers, back swamps, delta, and ancient marine shore line of Southern Mesopotamia during Late Pleistocene – Holocene have been studied depending on the ostracoda and foraminifera assemblages as ecological indicators to determine the ecofacies and paleosalinities, which diagnose different depositional environments. The data are collected from 86 boreholes (including 12 deep boreholes), covering almost the entire Southern Mesopotamia.
Rates of sedimentation are calculated and corrected for compaction in this study, relative to previously measured C14 dating by some authors, for the marine and non- marine (Ur Flood) deposits.
Those rates of sedimentation found in this study are varies from a borehole to another,
Twenty sand samples were collected from the sand dunes of Missan fields, Southeastern Iraq. Grain size distribution, mineralogical and chemical composition were studied for the total, medium, and fine-size sand fractions. The grain size analysis shows that the sand is the main component, followed by silt and trace of clay. The predominant grain size of sand is 0.250 to 0.500 mm, which forms more than 57.28 %, which indicates that these dunes were formed under the influence of relatively strong winds and the sedimentary material is close to the source. The light components are quartz, feldspar, and different rock fragments, while the heavy mineral assemblages are composed of opaque minerals, chlorite, mica, and amphiboles.
... Show MoreThe purpose of the present paper is to define the minerals content in the Najaf Dunes fields and the origin of these sand sediments in the southwestern parts of Iraq. There are three types of dunes in this field were described, the barchan, longitudinal, and dome dunes and additional types e.g. Nabkha, Barchanoid ridges, and sand sheet dunes. The study area was divided into three areas according to the geographical position, and numerous samples were collected from this field.
The mineralogical study consists from three methods these are; the first: separation of sand samples into the light and heavy minerals by heavy liquids,where performed on 30 samples. The second method; carbonate content performed on 60 samples, and the thir
... Show MoreThe raw material soil of Al-Sowera factory quarry (quarry soil and mixture) used for building brick industry was tested mineralogically, geochemically and geotechnically. Mineral components of soil are characterized by Clay minerals (Palygoriskite and chlorite) and nonclay minerals like calcite, quratz, feldspar, gypsum and halite. The raw material is deficient in SiO2, Al2O3, K2O, Fe2O3 and MgO, while enriched in CaO. Loss on ignition and Na2O are in suitable level and appear to be concordant with the standard. Grain size analyses show that the decreasing sand and clay, and increasing silt ratio in both quarry soil and mixture caused decreasing in strength of brick during molding and after firing. The quarry soil is characterized by high p
... Show MoreFifty 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
... Show MoreGeochemical proxies provide detailed information on depositional environment and diagenetic processes. The main objectives of the present study are the evaluation of the paleoenvironment and diagenetic conditions of selected three sections of the Shiranish Formation (Late Campanian-Maastrichtian) in Dokan-Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region, northeast of Iraq. The major and some trace elements were analysed by X-Ray Fluoresces. These geochemical results showed a positive correlation of SiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3, MgO and TiO2 between each other due to the influence of detrital influx from the active oceanic margins and thrust belts of the northeast Arabian Plate. The terrigeno
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