Preliminary Doctorate Research Proposal

ENVIRONMENTAL GEOCHEMICAL INVESTIGATION OF

LAND USE LANDCOVER EFFECT ON WATER
RESOURSE OF LESSER ZAB RIVER

Submitted by
YOUNUS IBRAHIM ISMAEL
Chief Geologist Assistant
Remote sensing Division, Department of Information,
IRAQI GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

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Remote Sensing Division Department of Information - Iraqi Geological Survey (GEOSURV)

1. Introduction
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers inside Iraq represent the main sources of surface
water for different uses. These two Rivers and their tributaries bring water from
Anatolia and Zagros mountains. The main tributaries of the Tigris River inside Iraq
are Greater Zab and Lesser Zab, which join the Tigris River south of Mosul. The
Tigris River collects 43% of its flow within Turkey and 57% of its flow within Iraq;
from left-bank tributaries.
The Lesser Zab River basin represents largest tributary feed the Tigris River
inside Iraq, whereas the average of annual flow is 7.4 bcm (billion cubic meters per
year). This basin has a catchment area, extends for a limited portion beyond the
northeast of Iraqi border represents 26% inside Iran, while the percent of catchment
area of this basin in Iraq represents 74%. The Lesser Zab is equipped the lake of
Dokan Dam near the city of Sulaimaniya, with storage capacity of 7.17 bcm. This lake
used for flood control, water storage and irrigation.
1.1. Location
The project area, Lesser Zab River basin is located in the northeastern part of
Iraq. The basin is situated between Latitude (35 10 00 - 36 55 00) and Longitude
(43 25 00 - 46 20 00), it is covering a total area of (19257.130) Km2, most of this
area inside Iraqi border, equal (14340.79) Km2 and the rest (4916.34) Km2 is inside
Iranian border as shown in Fig. (1).
1.2. Climate
The climate of the project area is mostly related to the Mediterranean semi-arid
type, which has cold rainy and some times snowy climate during the winter, and dry
hot continental climate type during the summer. The annual rainfall is precipitated in
winter and spring season. It is characterized by shower type of rain accompanied by
thunder, hailstorms. Summer season is characterized by rapid rise in temperature; low
humidity and absence of rainfall. The climate in the lower part of the basin is tending
to be arid. The average of annual rainfall for the period (1980-2005) is743 mm/year,
average relative humidity is 56.5 %, average temperature is 33.3 C, average wind
speed is 2.36 m/sec, and annual pan evaporation is 2408.3 mm/year.

Fig.1: Location map of Lesser Zab River Basin

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1.3 Lesser Zab River Basin (Environmental monitoring)

The overall impact of the drought was exacerbated by construction of large
dams in Turkey, Syria and Iran have resulted in decrease of water amount and
deterioration of the quality of soil and land productivity in Iraq which required
extreme importance for available water resources.
Lesser Zab basin is selected as a case study for this proposal, due to the point
and nonpoint pollution impacts on river water quality, whereas the population growth
and land use systems together with considerable human interventions in the Lesser
Zab basin make it feasible for analysis. The land use land cover (LULC) impact on
environmental assessment of water resources can be considered as representative
basin, whereas there is high landscape difference within short distances. In addition it
is passing through highly variation of exposed rocks and different land use types.
The pollution from nonpoint sources can vary significantly due to the types of
LULC within a basin. This proposal is suggested as one of the environmental studies
to determine the main reasons of pollution, provide solutions for pollution prevention,
maintain the integrity of natural waters, and determine to emergency problems In
order to develop protect water resources management and a monitoring program.
1.4.Geological Setting:
There are different geological and geomorphological units, which are exposed in
the Lesser Zab River basin. The upper part of the basin area is located within High
Folded Zone and Zagros Suture Zone (Jassim and Goff, 2006). it is characterized
mainly by the presence of the alternation of different types of rocks of different
lithological properties, while the lower part of the basin is located within the foot hills
zone which is characterized by clastic unresisting rocks (Aziz and Hassan, 1983).
The project area is built up mainly by sedimentary rocks, with some igneous
and metamorphic rocks in the extreme north eastern part of the project area. The
sedimentary rocks range in age from Triassic to Eocene with different types of
Quaternary sediments. The Quaternary sediments include river terrace, alluvial fan,
slope sediment, valley fill, flood plain and polygenetic sediments (Ma'ala, 2008 and
Sissakian, 1998) as shown in Fig. (2). There is various soil types are widely
developed, especially along the broad synclines river plain and on the slopes with
various thicknesses.

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Remote Sensing Division Department of Information - Iraqi Geological Survey (GEOSURV)

Fig. 2: Geological map of Lesser Zab River Basin (modified after Sissakian, 1998 and
Ma'ala, 2008)
1.5. Available Data and Software
The available satellite data are landsat satellite images (Multispectral Scanner
(MSS), Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM), Enhanced Landsat Thematic Mapper (ETM),
ASTER DEM image data and high resolution data (Quick bird). The data results will
derive from satellite data using ERDAS version 9.x, ArcGIS version 9.x software. In
addition different necessary software will be used such as PHREEQC, Visual
MODFLOW, SPSS and statistic- A and any other necessary software.
GPS device will be used for determination the checking stations. The other
available data are hydrological, topographic and geological maps, geological and
hydrological reports, meteorological data and all other available ancillary data.

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Remote Sensing Division Department of Information - Iraqi Geological Survey (GEOSURV)

Previous Work
The most important works concerning the present project area are:
1. Al-Sammarai and Al-Mubarak, (1978): Reported the regional geological
mapping of Makhmur - Kirkuk area.
2. Barwary, (1979): Studied the geological mapping of Al-Hawija Daqoq Tuz
and Khurmatu area.
3. Aziz, et.al., (1983): Reported the photoEngineering geological and
geomorphological mapping to the Lesser Zab River and create
geomorphological map scale 1:250 000.
4. Bautrus, (1988): Studied the hydrology of the lesser Zab; the main conclusion
of
his study is that the physical and chemical quality of water ranges from
good to very good and suitable for human and irrigation use.
5. Sissakian, (1998): Studied the geology of Erbile and Mahabad Quadrangle
sheet NJ-38-15.
6. Al-Manmi, (2002): Studied the water resources management in Rania area
Sulaimaniyah NE-Iraq, this study concludes that there are several aquifers in
the studied area like Jurassic, Bekhme, and Quaternary. The groundwater
movement is from northwest to southeast.
7. Stevanovic and Markovic, (2004): Studied the Climate, Hydrology,
Geomorphology and Geology northern of Iraq.
8. Al-Jaf, et.al., (2005): Studied the photo-geomorphological mapping to the
lower part of Lesser Zab from Makhmor to Makhol Dam and surrounding
area, scale 1:100 000.
9. Ma'ala, (2008): Studied the geology of Sulaimaniya Quadrangle sheet no. NI38-3, Scale 1:250000.
2. Objectives
The main object of this proposal is to develop new and meaningful indicators
to measure the environmental impacts of natural and anthropogenic effects on water
quality of lesser Zab basin through the following steps:
1. Delineate main river catchments, and sub catchments using GIS from digital
elevation model (DEM).
2. Producing LULC map from remote sensing data. and Exploration of LULC
Correlations to Water Quality Within the basin.
3. Monitoring environmental changes detection of vegetation cover and surface
water bodies through last four decades using satellite images indices.
4. Environmental geochemical investigation of Lesser Zap main course.and
identify the anomalous concentrations of various trace and toxic metals in
waters
5. Determination effect of each sub basin on the water quality of main river cours
and the sources of pollution, if any.
6. Application of geochemical Models on ground water samples within the basin
between Dokan lake and Dibis Town.
7. Evaluate the usefulness of various water resources for different uses.
8. Use (GIS) for data interpretation and prepare geochemical maps for anomalous
zones in various media of the basins.
E-mail: younusalsaady@yahoo.com Mobile: 009647700601035
Remote Sensing Division Department of Information - Iraqi Geological Survey (GEOSURV)

3. WORK PROCEDURE

The project includes the following steps:

3.1. Preliminary Office Work
This includes:
Collection of all existing data and information about the project area from
previous works and several organizations and all ancillary data such as
hydrological, climatologically and other necessary data.
Interpretation of all available data concerning the geology, hydrology and
maps, of the project area.
Processing and interpretation of satellite images data and preparing land cover
land use and drainage pattern map.
Preparing drainage maps for the basin and determine the sub basins within the
Lesser Zab River basin.
Suggestion of checking points, which will be checked during the field work.

3.2. Field Work

This includes:
Collect of water and sediment samples from Lesser Zab River, Dokan Lake and
other water resources within the basin such as springs, wells, creeks.
Documentation all field checking points, and any other necessary information of
the project area.
Field description of the surface sediments and land use land covers classes.
Assessment the accuracy results of land use land cover map that produced from
satellite image interpretation.
3.3. Office Work after Field Work
This includes:
Laboratory analysis of water and sediments samples.
Evaluation of laboratory analysis of the sediments and water samples.
Revaluation and correction the results of satellite images interpretation depend
on field checking.
Environmental impact assessment of each sub basin and each LULC classes
on the water quality of Lesser Zab River.
Preparation of the final models and maps.
Writing of the thesis.
4. Duration of Performing Thesis
The required duration for performing the project is supposed to be 36 months, as
showing in table (1).

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Remote Sensing Division Department of Information - Iraqi Geological Survey (GEOSURV)

Table 1: The Duration table of performing project

Months
1-6

6-13

13-14

14-18

18-20

20-21

21-26

26-36

Items
Courses and previous literatures
review
Data preparing and Processing using
Erdas and GIS etc.
Field work (first campaign)
Laboratory Works
Field work (Second campaign)
Laboratory Works
Interpretation of data and Modeling
writing thesis and final layout

REFERENCES
1. Al-Jaf, A. A., Al-Saady Y. I., Al-Maamar, A.F., Al-Faris, F. J. and Al-Rubaiay,
A. T., 2005. The geomorphological of Makhol Makhmur dam reservoir, int.
rep. no. 2924, GEOSURV-IRAQ.
2. Al-Manmi, D. A., 2002. Water resources management in Rania area Sulaimaniya
NE- Iraq. Unpublished PhD thesis. College of science, university of Baghdad,
Iraq. 249 P.
3. Aziz. M. T, Ibraheem F. A. Sebesta J. and Hassan A. R., 1983. The Lesser Zab
River basin project photo engineering geological and geomorphological
mapping. Internal report. no. 1405, GEOSURV-IRAQ.
4. Al-Sammarai, A.H.I. and Al-Mubarak, M.A., 1978. Report on the regional
geological mapping of Makhmur-Kirkuk Area, int. rep. no.905, GEOSURVIRAQ.
5. Barwary, A. M., 1979. Report on Geological Survey of Al-Hawija Daqoq
Tuz and Khurmatu Area, part I, int. rep. no. 906, GEOSURV-IRAQ.
6. Bautrus, K.A., 1988. Hydrological Study of the Lesser Zab River. M. Sc.Thesis
Unpublished, College of Science, University of Baghdad, 125 P.
7. Jassim, S.Z. and Goff .J .C (eds.), 2006. Geology of Iraq. Dolin, Prague and
Moravian Museum, Brno. 341P.
8. Ma'ala, K.A., 2008.The geology of Sulaimaniya Quadrangle sheet no. NI-38-3,
Scale 1:250000. GEOSURV, Int. rep. no.3095, Baghdad, Iraq.
9. Mehta, V. K., Walter, M.T., and DeGloria, D. S. 2006. A Simple Water Balance
Model .Cornell University, Technical rep. no.5, 9 P.
10. Sissakian, V.K., 1998, the geology of Erbile and Mahabad Quadrangle sheet
NJ-38-15, GEOSURV, int. rep. no.2462, Baghdad, Iraq.
11. Stevanovic, Z. and Markovic, M., 2004a. Hydrogeology of Northern Iraq.Vol.1,
Climate, Hydrology, Geomorphology and Geology. Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations, Rome. 190 P.
E-mail: younusalsaady@yahoo.com Mobile: 009647700601035
Remote Sensing Division Department of Information - Iraqi Geological Survey (GEOSURV)

E-mail: younusalsaady@yahoo.com Mobile: 009647700601035

Remote Sensing Division Department of Information - Iraqi Geological Survey (GEOSURV)