Epilithic diatoms diversity in the Lower Zab River within Kirkuk province

Spatiotemporal variation analysis of water quality in the river is very vital for water resources protection and sustainable consumption. In this study, Multivariate statistical methods, i.e., Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) and Multi Recreation Analysis (MRA) were used to interpret of data matrix in water quality over a period of five years (2015–2019) in the Lower Zab River. The results from PCA matrix showed high positive correlation between total hardness and sulphate (SO4) at 95% confidence level (0.934) indicating that non-carbonate hardness is a measure in the river. By using Varimax rotation and by extracting the eigenvalues greater than 1 from the correlation matrix, number of significant principal components (PCs) were extracted. Five and four latent factors respectively in Lower Zab station 3 (LZ3) and Lower Zab station 2 (LZ2) were identified as responsible for the data structure, explaining 86.8% of total variance in winter season in LZ3 station and it is strong positive related to the SO4, nitrate (NO3), chloride (CL) and pH. All these variables are related to the weathering of minerals component of the river. 87.5% of total variance for winter season in LZ2 station, which is strongly positive, related to the NO3, pH, sodium (NA) and magnesium (MG) related to the weathering of minerals component. The strong correlations between PC3 and five-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) as a result of CCA in LZ3 station during summer season, indicates that the high concentration of calcium (CA) and dissolved oxygen (DO) in water cause the low concentration of BOD5. Among 72 multiple regression model run, only eight dependent variables had statistically significant relationships with independent variables. These results provide may useful information for water quality in the Lower Zab River, which can mainly affected by weathering of minerals component of the river, soil structure and run-off.

This study aims to assess radon levels in the water of the Lower Zab River. Knowing the radon concentrations is crucial for understanding the potential risks to human health and implementing protective measures. ARAD7-H2O detector has been used to measure the radon concentration in 28 water samples from the Lower Zab River in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Results show that the radon activity concentrations ranged from 0.5 to 4 Bq.L−1, with an average of 0.61 Bq.L−1, and the resulting annual effective dose (AED) varied from 0.137 to 60.06 Sv.y−1, with an average of 12.08 Sv.y−1. The average radon concentration and AED in the measured samples are below the reference levels recommended by the ICRP and the World Health Organization. Consequently, the LZR water is suitable for human consumption and use and does not present any health hazards related to radon exposure.

The Upper and Lower Zab Rivers are two of main and most important tributaries of Tigris River in Northern Iraq region. They supply Tigris River with more than 40 % of its yield. The forecasting of flows for these rivers is very important in operation of the existing Dokan Dam on the Lower Zab River and the proposed Bakhma Dam on the Upper Zab River for flood mitigation and also in drought periods. Three types of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are investigated and evaluated for flow forecasting of both rivers. The ANN techniques are the feedforward neural networks (FFNN), generalized regression neural networks (GRNN), and the radial basis function neural networks (RBF). The networks’ performance varied with different cases involved in the study; however, the FFNN was almost better than other networks. The effect of including a time index within the inputs of the networks is investigated. In addition, the ANNs’ performance is investigated in forecasting the high and low peaks and in forecasting river flows using the data of the other river.

In this study, 68 wells were selected from different locations for the area located between Tigris river and Lower Zab river, and its suburbs south of Makhmor Mount. A series of chemical and physical tests were carried out for the groundwater of each well, where the calcium , total hardness (T.H)., total dissolved soled (T.D.S)., Electrical conductivity (EC), pH, Turbidity, Alkaline were examined..Results were compared and evaluated with the limits permitted by the Iraqi standards for drinking water and with the specifications of industrial and agricultural consumption. The results showed the disqualification of most of these wells for drinking purposes because the high content of salt and high hardness, where exceed the limits of Iraqi standards for drinking water except one well. Also, the results show that 36 wells were suitable for irrigation and agriculture with taking precautions to proportion of salts, while 32 wells were not well within the specifications of irrigation water. The industrial consumption has been found that all wells were not identical to the specifications used in the food industry.

The current study was conducted on the water of the Zab river in the Zab township of the Hawija district / Kirkuk governorate / Iraq, through which some physical and chemical factors of the river's water and some wells were studied. The research began from August 2019 to January 2020, to study six sites on the Zab River and six wells in the Zab township the research included the measurement of physical factors (electrical conductivity and total soluble salts or electrical conductivity and TDS). And some chemical factors in river water and well water (Calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium ions). And some of the heavy metals (cadmium, lead, copper, and cobalt). The results of the current study showed that the values ​​of electrical conductivity (312-518) microsemns / cm for river water and (741-8542) microsemns / cm for wells, while total dissolved salts ranged between (194-336) mg / L in river water and (253- 293.3 (mg / L for studied wells, calcium ions were recorded between (36-52) mg / L for the Zab River and (51.1-481.3) mg / L for wells. As for Magnesium Ions, it ranged between (15-24) mg / L for the Zab River and ( 26.6-480.5) mg / L for wells, Sodium ions recorded values ​​ranging between (8-19) mg / L for the Zab river and (14.3-294.3) mg / L for well water, the values ​​of potassium ions ranged between (1.4-3) mg / L for the Zab River and (9.5-155) mg / L of wells water, heavy metals (cadmium, lead, cobalt and copper) in both well water and the Zab River recorded very low values which were did not exceed 0.1 ppm. The results of the statistical analysis of the Dunkin test also showed the presence of temporal and spatial differences in most of the studied physical and chemical factors at 0.05 level.

Seasonal Distribution and Diversity of Epipelic Diatoms in the Lower Zab River

Multi-regression, hydrologic sensitivity and hydrologic model simulations were applied to quantify the climate change and anthropogenic intervention impacts on the Lower Zab River basin (LZRB). The Pettitt, precipitation-runoff double cumulative curve (PR-DCC) and Mann–Kendall methods were used for the change points and significant trend analyses in the annual streamflow. The long-term runoff series from 1979 to 2013 was first divided into two main periods: a baseline (1979–1997) and an anthropogenic intervention period (1998–2013). The findings show that the mean annual streamflow changes were consistent using the three methods. In addition, climate variability was the main driver, which led to streamflow reduction with contributions of 66–97% during 2003–2013, whereas anthropogenic interventions caused reductions of 4–34%. Moreover, to enhance the multi-model combination concept and explore the simple average method (SAM), Hydrologiska Byrans Vattenbalansavdelning (HBV), Génie Rural a Daily 4 parameters (GR4J) and Medbasin models have been successfully applied.

Iran has dried up the Lower Zab River, the latest of Iran’s and Iraq’s transboundary (shared) rivers to be taken out of Iraq’s use. Water projects on the shared rivers will deny downstream Iraq its historic share of the waters. There is no agreement between Iran and Iraq on the management of their shared rivers and Iran ignores the principles for managing international watercourses provided in the applicable water conventions. This paper looks at the Lower Zab as the latest dried up river and its impact on the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, it reviews the present policy of the Iraqi and the Kurdistan regional governments regarding the rivers shared with Iran, and finally it suggests what can be done in Kurdistan to secure water and how to manage it with Iraq.

The paper presents the research strategy and the results of the excavations and other fieldwork undertaken from 2015-2018 by the Peshdar Plain Project near the town of Qaladze on the banks of the Lower Zab River in the Kurdish Autonomous Region of Iraq. The focus of the work of the international and interdisciplinary team brought together by Karen Radner (University of Munich) lies on the so-called Dinka Settlement Complex which encompassed in the Iron Age a territory of about 60 hectares, including the sites of Qalat-i Dinka and Gird-i Bazar. The combination of the evidence from textual records, including from the Dinka Settlement Complex itself, and the currently available radiocarbon date ranges suggest that the settlement was founded before the Assyrians took over the Peshdar Plain in the 9th century BC and continued its life under the Empire.

The Makhoul Dam project proposed to be established is considered one of the strategic projects in Iraq as it works to insurance large quantity of water spare in flood seasons, increase the storage capacity of the dams in Iraq, as well as increase food security. The Makhool Dam is located on Tigris River in Salah al-Din Governorate, and 8 km south of the meeting point of the Tigris River with the Lower Zab River. The lake area is about 256 km2. In this research, a mathematical model was prepared by using HEC-RAS Two Dimension Software to analyze the velocity patterns and water depths inside makhool dam reservoir at the highest operational water elevation, based on the designs prepared by the Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources which is 150.25 m.a.s.l. The present study was conducted to investigate velocity patterns with the difference outlet discharges and changing the operation of the spillway gates within Makhool reservoir. The velocities were predicted and evaluated by utilizing modeling efficiency was 99.7%. This shows that the velocity distribution can be described the pattern with a good accuracy. The obtained velocities were ranged from -0.5 m/s to 5.1 m/s, the maximum velocities were near the dam axis.

In this study, a weighted mathematical model was utilized to evaluate the water quality of the filtration station in the Al-Dibs district. The assessment was conducted at five different sites from October 2023 to April 2024. Various characteristics of the water samples were measured, encompassing physical properties like turbidity, total suspended solids, total dissolved solids, and electrical conductivity. Additionally, chemical properties such as pH, total alkalinity, total hardness, calcium hardness, magnesium hardness, chloride, total nitrogen, and available phosphorus were analyzed. Bacterial properties, including total bacterial count, coliform bacteria, and fecal bacteria, were also assessed. The study monitored various sites along the Lower Zab River, including the raw water collection point, water pumping area, Oil Quarter, Diyarbakır Quarter, and Kolan Quarter. Results revealed unsatisfactory water quality at the raw water collection point, while excellent quality was observed at the other sites (2, 3, 4, 5). The water quality index rankings were as follows: 18.10, 17.61, 47.96, 30.40.These findings suggest that the water treatment station effectively produces water suitable for daily sanitary purposes.

In the Iraq Museum are displayed two large fragments of a floor mosaic found during a series of emergency surveys and excavations, carried out in 1957–58 by the Directorate General of Antiquities of Iraq. The works were conducted in the plain on the Lower Zab river, south of Rānya (Arbil Liwa), which was due to be flooded on the completion of the Dokan dam. This work was necessary because in the plain—known locally as Dasht-i-Bitawīyn and some 80 square miles in area—there were at least forty tells which would be submerged on the completion of the artificial lake. The mosaic was found about 10 miles south of Rānya, at Tell Khwāris which is situated at the confluence of the Lower Zab and its tributary Rubar-i-Basalam. Tell Khwāris is 100 m. long, 80 m. wide and 4 m. high. Nearby dwellers in the course of their agricultural works had dug a deep trench on the summit of the mound and had brought to light several pieces of the floor mosaic which were subsequently destroyed. Members of the Directorate General of Antiquities when informed of the discovery, were able to trace all extant parts of the ancient floor and remove them to Baghdad.

Rania Plain lies on the eastern side of Iraqi Kurdistan, at the foot of the seemingly impenetrable Zagros Mountains. During the Early Modern Period, this microregion was on the fringe of the two major powers of the Middle East, the Ottoman and Persian Empires, but it was also part of the Soran Emirate, one of the semi-autonomous vassal states that existed for hundreds of years. The Rania Plain was close to the main trade route linking Baghdad with the major Kurdish cities of Erbil and Mosul. In addition, the Lower Zab River, which flows through this valley to reach the Mesopotamian Plain, provided a natural trade and information route between the inner parts of the Zagros Mountains, the Iranian Plateau, and the fertile plains crossed by the Tigris River. Despite this, the Rania region and its cities do not appear on Ottoman Period maps, and written sources are silent about the function of the area between the 16th and 20th centuries. Field survey and excavation data from the last fifty years have provided a complex and varied picture of the valley’s topography, which, combined with the dense water network in the area, defines possible lines of population movement. One of the key questions to be addressed in examining the historical significance and complex use of the area is how to reconstruct the historical road use in the microregion using historical, archaeological, topographical, ethnographic, and GIS data and whether the area played a connecting or separating role in relation to the eastern frontier of the Ottoman Empire.

Response of aquatic macro-invertebrate diversity to environmental factors along the Lower Komati River in Swaziland

Data on characteristics of phytoplankton communities is important scientific information in marine ecosystem, especially in assessment of environmental impacts on biodiversity in a specific waters. In the present study, two-year phytoplankton data was analyzed for species diversity, community structure changes and variation in 4 adjacent waters: Lower Thu Bon river (TB), transition waters (CT), Cu Lao Cham island (CLC) and offshore site (BM) to provide basic scientific data of phytoplankton communities, compare and assess seasonal changes and possible linkage of these adjacent waters. A total of 364 phytoplankton taxa of 12 classes were identified, showing high diversity and with seasonal variation of the investigated waters. There was strong difference of phytoplankton communities among the adjacent waters with low similarity index and the change of dominant species seasonally in each area. The species richness and diversity in the lower Thu Bon river were lower than in other areas. Variation of phytoplankton abundance and diversity along the river transect showed changes in species composition between the dry and rainy seasons but with similar trend in abundance. The low community similarity between the adjacent waters and the transition waters may indicate low impacts of river flow on phytoplankton communities in the coastal waters.