Engineering and Minerological Characteristics of Sand Dunes of Babylon Governorate, Iraq

Abstract

The engineering and mierological of sand dunes has been investigated in this paper. The engineering characteristics study involved studying the dimensions of the dunes, their slope angles, analyzing the curvature of their surfaces and sieve analysis. The mierological characteristics included XRD, XRF, and Thin section for specimens. The investigated area involved three differnts zones lie in the Babylon Governorate in the cnter of Iraq. The zones are called Ramlet Rashid, Ramlet Albu Faris and Birmana area. It has a desert environment, which is characterized by little rainfall, ranging from 50 to 200 mm annually, and high summer temperatures that can exceed 50°C, with northwest winds dominating. The grain size distribution of the sand was found to be 99% in an engineering study of sand dune soils. According to USCS, the sand is of the type (Sp), which is sandy badly graded. The bulk density of sand dune soils for the study area locations ranged from 1.287 to 1.376 g /cm3, The lowest concentration was 1.287 g/cm3 in the Bermana area (third site), while the highest concentration was 1.376 g/cm3 at the Ramlet Rashid site (first site), with an average of 1.3315 g/cm3. The internal friction angle (Ø) for sand dune soils for the research area sites ranged from 33 to 34 in the direct shear test, with the minimum being 33 in Ramlet Rashid and the maximum being 34 in Albu Faris. Having a 33.5 percent rate The convergence of the internal friction angle (Ø) values for sand dunes reflects the deposition environment as well as the geometric characteristics of the sand dunes, Because the soil is SP without cohesion and clays, the cohesion (C) values for all sites are (0). The petrographic investigation of sand rise soils uncovered that quartz is the most light mineral tracked down in all areas, trailed by rock pieces, which include: sedimentary rocks (calcareous rocks, carbonates, chert, evaporites, and earth rock sections), trailed by feldspar (antacid and plagioclase feldspar), and volcanic stone parts, transformative shakes and mud-covered grains. Concerning its weighty minerals parts, for the most part hazy minerals, the chlorite bunch, the mica bunch, the amphibole bunch, the pyroxene bunch, zircon, termolite, garnet, rhyolite, staurolite, kainite, rutile, and different minerals by 1%. X-Ray diffraction test uncovered the presence of quartz, albite and calcite, and X-Ray fluorescence tests showed the presence of silica (SiO2) and lime (CaO).