A 2D Seismic Reflection and Interpretation Study of the Khan Al-Baghdadi area within the Palaeozoic Era (western Iraq)

This research deals with a 2D seismic structural and stratigraphic interpretation of Khan Al-Baghdadi area which is located in the western part of Iraq in Anbar governorate. Two main seismic reflectors are identified within the Silurian and Ordovician; these are the Hot_shale_1 within Akkas Formation and the Top Khabour Formation, which were deposited during the Paleozoic, based on synthetic seismogram of Akk_3 well near the study area. Time, depth, and velocity maps show the presence of two anticline structures trending east-west and located on the west side of the study area. The first is the Tulul structure (here denoted as A) and the second is denoted as B. Also, the maps show the increase in time towards the eastern side of the study area. The general slope of the reflectors is towards the southeast and the increase in the thickness of formations is gradually to the southwest and the northwest sides of the study area. The direct hydrocarbon indicator (DHI) was identified as sand lenses and flat spots on the studied reflectors, when applying seismic attributes like the instantaneous phase and the instantaneous Frequency), which give indicators of potential hydrocarbon accumulations. The primary reservoir in the study area is sandstone within the Khabour Formation, while the source and seal rocks are in the Hot_shale within Akkas Formation. They are interpreted to be present throughout Akkas Field, as gas-condensate accumulations, 100 km to the west of the study area and demonstrate the viability of the Paleozoic petroleum system in the Western Desert of Iraq.

Minimizing the Impacts of Desertification in an Arid Region: A Case Study of the West Desert of Iraq

Currently, desertification is a major problem in the western desert of Iraq. The harsh nature, remoteness, and size of the desert make it difficult and expensive to monitor and mitigate desertification. Therefore, this study proposed a comprehensive and cost-effective method, via the integration of geographic information systems (GISs) and remote sensing (RS) techniques to estimate the potential risk of desertification, to identify the most vulnerable areas and determine the most appropriate sites for rainwater conservation. Two indices, namely, the Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Land Degradation Index (LDI), were used for a cadastral assessment of land degradation. The findings of the combined rainwater harvesting appropriateness map, and the maps of NDVI and LDI changes found that 65% of highly suitable land for rainwater harvesting lies in the large change and 35% lies in the small change of NDVI, and 85% of highly suitable land lies in areas with a moderate change and 12% lies in strong change of LDI. The adoption of the weighted linear combination (WLC) and Boolean methods within the GIS environment, and the analysis of NDVI with LDI changes can allow hydrologists, decision-makers, and planners to quickly determine and minimize the risk of desertification and to prioritize the determination of suitable sites for rainwater harvesting.

Microfacies analysis of the Late Maastrichtian- Danian Phosphatic Succession in the H3-Trebeel district, Western Desert of Iraq

The Late Maastrichtian–Danian phosphatic succession prevails as a deposit to the west of Rutbah region, Western Iraq. This is manifested through the lithostratigraphic sections of boreholes (K.H5\6 and K.H 5\8) drilled previously in the area. The succession is mainly composed of phosphate, shale, porcelanite, oyster and foraminiferal carbonate lithofacies belonging to Digma and Akashat formations. Three facies associations are distinguished during the study: the phosclast planktonic (FA1) that dominates the outer ramp, the phosclast foraminiferal (FA2) that dominates the mid ramp, and the quartz dolomitic phosclast (FA3) present in the inner ramp. These facies’ associations are differentiated into seventeen microfacies types. Microfacies analysis and fauna contents have shown gradual facies variation grading from a high energy inner ramp environment in the east to a low energy deep water ramp environment in the west.

The use of geotechniques in studying the cartography of soil series of Imam Ali dropper

"The research was conducted in the lands of Qattara Imam Ali (peace be upon him) with an area of 6157.82 hectares located in the western desert of Iraq, which is 80 km from the city of Karbala towards the road leading to the Ain al-Tamr Oasis, 15 km south of the city of karbala and the location between longtitudes 44 47 58.21 , 32 33 28.01 north and toward lake razzazah , two latituides 44 45 15 96 and 32 30 59.17 west and towrads the White Valley, and using the satellite image taken from the Landsat8 satellite of the sensor (OLI) with eleven spectral beams, the first movement paths were chosen About 4722 AD and the second around 4025 ADThe results of the catographic analysis of the Soil Series Map showed that the highest soil series was the 113CCE series, and the largest area was 752.752 hectares of the estimated total area of 4064.956 hectares, with an area ratio of 18.518% and a frequency of 641, while the series 123CCM ranked second, followed by the series 123CCM, followed by the series 143CCM. , Followed by the series 133CCF, then the series 143CCF, followed by the series 153CCF, then the series CBE322, and finally the series 153CCF, with an area of 233,223 hectares, an area of 5.737% and a frequency of 478 "

Description of The Karst Phenomena Spreading Along Stratified Sequence in The Western Desert of Iraq

The study focused on two important sites containing many caves sites located in the west of Al Anbar Governorate. The first site is Um El-Githoaa cavity in Hit region, a cave or trunks was chosen to show the aesthetic of this cave in terms of its shape and dimensions. The maximum diameter is 22.1m, while the perpendicular diameter is 18.5m. It is a dome shape and the height of its roof reaches about 2m located in the stratigraphic sequence falls within the massive gypsum, Fatha Formation (Middle Miocene). Geoelectrical exploration was chosen on the southern side of the cave to check whether the sinkholes scattered in the area are connected to subsurface caves or not. Using a Dipole-dipole array was chosen along a traverse, shown there are three sub-surface caves. This indicates that these phenomena are widespread in the region. The second location is Haditha, Barwana Village which was chosen to study where the cave is located in unconformity breccia zone between Anah Formation (Upper Oligocene- Lower Miocene) and Euphrates Formation (Lower Miocene- Middle Miocene). Barwana cave extends to the north 30 m and then tends to the west extend about 1 km within fragile breccia layer with incoherent components and ends with a small opening at the Euphrates River. This phenomenon was not present in the hard gypsum rocks in the Hit region, it was observed to have a large oval shape

Improve Rheological Properties of Palygorskite Water-Based Drilling Fluid by Caustic Soda and Soda Ash

In drilling fluid program, selecting the drilling fluid that will reduce the lost time is the first objective, and will be economical regardless of its cost. The amount and type of solids in drilling fluid is the primary control of the rheological and filtration properties. Palygorskite clay (attapulgite) is an active solid that has the ability to reactive with its environment and form a gel structure within a fluid and due to its stability in the presence of brines and electrolytes this type of clay is preferred for use. The aim of this study is to improve properties of Iraqi palygorskite (PAL) by adding different chemical additives such as caustic soda NaOH and soda ash Na2CO3 with a different concentration in both fresh and salt water-based drilling fluid to satisfy the API specification and to compete with imported palygorskite. The palygorskite claystone of Late Cretaceous age is present in the Western Desert of Iraq within the Digma Formation. In this study, two areas in Western Desert palygorskite were obtained, Bahr Al-Najaf and Trefawi. The results of rheological properties showed that the performance of Bahr Al-Najaf PAL was more affected by caustic soda than Trefawi PAL. In contrast, Trefawi PAL performance was more affected with low concentrations of soda ash than Bahr Al-Najaf PAL in both fresh and salt water-based drilling fluid. Also, these additives lead to improve the value of pH in both fresh and salt drilling fluid that increases the ability of clay to be more dispersed in drilling fluid. Besides that, enhancement of drilling fluid prepared with Iraqi palygorskite stability to 85 and 80 in fresh and saltwater, respectively, was observed with soda ash additions.