Mineralogy of Recent Sediments of Al-Teeb River Basin-East Missan Governorate, Southeastern Iraq

Abstract

This research aims to define the mineralogical composition of recent sediments that were deposited around the Al-Teeb River basin in the east Missan Governorate and try to determine the provenance or the source of these sediments. The study area represents the southeastern edge of the Mesopotamian Plain and is part of it. 15 samples were collected from eight stations of recent sediment that was deposited around the Al-Teeb River; two field works are covered (December 2019 and August 2021). Mineralogical study of the sediment after separating the light and heavy minerals by heavy liquid Bromoform in order to determine the mineralogical composition of the studied samples by using the petrographic microscope the light mineral fraction composed (95.5%) of the total mineralogy. The light components of these sediments consist mainly of quartz about 25.31%, feldspars (potash and plagioclase feldspar) about 9.53%, sedimentary rock fragments (carbonate rock fragments up to 33.39%, chert rock fragments 7.65%, evaporates fragments, 7.31%), (igneous rock fragments, and metamorphic rock fragments about 6.94%). The major component of the heavy minerals residue is opaque minerals with a range of 36.76% and non-opaque minerals with a range of 63.24%. The non-opaque minerals are mainly of chlorite 7.42%, pyroxenes composed of both orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene 6.37%, amphiboles composed of hornblende, glaucophane, and tremolite 7.02%, (mica: biotite and muscovite) 9.81%, zircon 7.54%, tourmaline 5.1%, epidote group 5.91%, rutile 4.5%, kyanite 2.2%. The sediments have two types of stability: moderately stable and ultra-stable. The mineralogical composition shows that the major sources of these sediments are; the river terraces and flood plain of the river in the Mesopotamian Plain, another source of these sediments is the aeolian deposits that separated from sand dune fields in the studied area, and outcrops of ancient sedimentary formations in the southeastern of Iraq as specified by the incidence of the carbonate rock fragments.