Studying and diagnosing the heavy and light sand Minerals for some of the soils in southern and northern Iraq

Abstract

A study and diagnosis of heavy and light sand minerals were conducted for some soils in southern and northern Iraq, as the soils in southern Iraq from Maysan Governorate were represented in four regions and included soils (Ali Al-Gharbi, Al-Batira, Al-Maymouna, Al-Tayyib). And four areas of the soils of northern Iraq from the governorate of Erbil and included soils (Shaqlawa, Salah El-Din area, Kori, and Harir), as the surface depths (0-30) cm were chosen for all the soils studied. The results showed the predominance of quartz minerals in all soils of the study within the light part of light sand minerals and attributed the dominance to their resistance to weathering in addition to being inherited from the original material while the dominance of the opaque minerals and all the studied soils appeared within the heavy fraction of sand minerals, the sovereignty was attributed to the nature of the sediments, their source, and the severity of the weathering process that affected them. The results also showed the similarity in the mineral composition with the difference in the proportions of their distribution. This difference in the relative distribution is due to the effect of sedimentation processes. Which is a reflection of the variation in the physiographic sites and its effect on the mineral content of the sediments, and because the soil samples are located within the flood plains that were formed by floods occurring in the river basins, which reflected the difference in the relative distribution of sand minerals for the soils of Erbil Governorate, as they are outside the range of riverine operations which It is attributed to the nature of the topography and geography of the land in northern Iraq that differs from its south.