Khasib and Tannuma oil sources, East Baghdad oil field, Iraq

This work presents new insights of the generation, quality and migration pathways of the hydrocarbons in the East Baghdad Oil Field.The Khasib and Tannuma formations in East Baghdad are considered as oil reservoirs according to their high porosity (15-23%) and permeability (20-45 mD) in carbonate rocks. The hydrocarbons are trapped by structural anticline closure trending NW-SE. Gas chromatography analysis on these oil reservoirshave shown biomarkers of abundant ranges of n-alkanes of less than C22 (C17-C21) with C19 and C18 peaks. This suggests mainly liquid oil constituents of paraffinic hydrocarbons from marine algal source of restricted palaeoenvironments in the reservoir. The low non aromatic C15 + peaks are indicative for slight degradation and water washing. Oil biomarkers of Pr./Ph. = 0.85, C31/C30 < 1.0, location in triangle of C27-C29 sterane, C28/C29 of 0.6 sterane, Oleanane of 0.01 and CPI = 1.0, indicate an anoxic marine environment with carbonate deposits of Upper Jurassic to Early Cretaceous age. Four Miospores, seven Dinoflagellates and one Tasmanite species confirm affinity to the upper most Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous Chia Gara and Ratawi Formations.The recorded palynomorphs from the Khasib and Tannuma Formations are of light brown color of TAI = 2.8-3.0 and comparable to the mature palynomorphs that belong to the Chia Gara and the Lower part of Ratawi Formations.The Chia Gara Formation generated oil during Upper Cretaceous to Early Palaeogene and accumulated in structural traps of Cretaceous age, such as the Khasib and Tannuma reservoirs. The Chia Gara Formation generated and expelled high quantities of oil hydrocarbons according to their TOC wt% of 0.5-8.5 with S2 = 2.5-18.5 mg Hc/g Rock, high hydrogen index of the range 150-450 mg Hc/g Rock, good petroleum potential of 4.5-23.5 mg Hc/g Rock, mature (TAI = 2.8-3.0 and T_max = 428-443C), kerogen type II and palynofacies parameters of up to 100% AOM (Amorphous Organic Matters). This includes algae deposits in a dysoxic-anoxic to suboxic-anoxic environment.Alternative plays are discussed according to the migration pathways.     

Human settlements adapted to environmental changes through the Paleolithic and Neolithic times in West Iraq

Euphrates Flood Plain sediments are recorded in Barwana city which is 6 km south of Haditha City. Much vegetation and climatic and archaeological evidences in this study pointed to several stages of old human settlements in that area. Palynological evidences show the livelihood of those humans before the great Noah Deluge of the period 10,500 years before present (BP). Their food was gathered by collecting crops and hunting animals in a steppe region along the valleys. As a result of this suffering from deluge and climatic variations that affected the region, humans had taken the search for a new way of living by trying to settle in the areas near the Euphrates river and attempted cultivation of this land, where the study showed the first appearance of field crop (cereals) pollens, such as wheat, barley, corn …, etc., at depth of 475–500 cm of the studies section, which represents a warm–humid climate with summer precipitation during the period of 10,000–5,000 years BP. These environmental conditions helped the ancient humans to settle in the agriculture village of Barwana, living on cultivation of the land and domesticating animals, such as grazing animals, for their main forms of food. Evolving palm cultivation and record of many archaeological ceramic pieces in the sample at a depth of 250 cm emphasized his attempt to establish industrial culture in the region after a period of changing climate to warm and dry which affected the region since 6,000 years BP and changed the Barwana settlements to an industrial village. The grasses and tree exploitation for sheep shepherding, building houses, and fire use, as well as dam building and Naoor manufacture for irrigation added evidences for ancient cities developments such as Hanat (Presently Ana) and Heet since about 5000 Y.BP. The desertification manifestation of that warm and dry climate continued from that time to the present with drought increased and deficiency in the rainfall, as well as the human irresponsible activities, as evidenced by increased pollen and spores of Compositae and Bongardia.     

Local scour prediction around piers with complex geometry

A laboratory study of local scour at complex piers under steady clear-water conditions is presented. The term complex piers is used to define a bridge pier comprising of a column, pile cap, and pile group. Comprehensive data over the full range of possible pile cap elevations for complex piers with different geometries were obtained using five complex pier models, which were scaled down from existing bridges in Malaysia. The data are used to evaluate existing methodologies for characterizing the effective width of complex piers with varying pile cap location relative to the undisturbed streambed. The effect of pile cap location on scour depth is also addressed. To improve the predictions of local scour at complex piers, the new data and some previous data are used to propose a new method to predict local scour depth at complex piers.     

Disentangling late quaternary fluvial and climatic drivers of palaeohydrological change in the Najaf Sea basin,Western Iraq

The water resource provided by lake basins in the western desert of Iraq is important for human occupation of areas outside the Tigris-Euphrates floodplain, both in the past and into the future. This paper presents the first geomorphological and geochronological study of the date of formation of the Najaf Sea and the only such study of any lake basin to the west of Mesopotamia. Geomorphological shoreline features and a palaeochannel linking to the Euphrates were studied and dated using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and radiocarbon dating. Provenance was determined using heavy mineral analysis. Past environments in the Najaf Sea were reconstructed by molluscan analysis. The earliest OSL ages date from c. 30 000 and 22 000 years ago and seem to predate lake formation. Younger OSL ages date the highest lake level at c. 19 m asl to between 1620–1760 AD (base) to 1906–1974 AD (near surface). The radiocarbon ages are affected by a freshwater reservoir effect, but the maximum ages recorded for either of the c. 15 m and c. 17 m asl shorelines are c. 800 cal. BC. This predates the first archaeological sites in the Najaf basin and is similar to maximum ages of c. 850 and c. 1100 cal. BC from the associated palaeochannel. This timing does not seem to be linked to a humid climate event. We therefore conclude that the establishment of the Najaf Sea in the Najaf basin occurred as a result of an avulsion event within the Euphrates system that diverted flow to the basin. The trigger for this avulsion event likely related to rapid sediment accumulation and may have been either autogenic or driven by human activity. This study therefore suggests that Najaf Sea formation facilitated human expansion beyond the Tigris- Euphrates floodplain and occurred due to avulsion of the Euphrates.     

Oil and gas play and prospect assessments of Babel,Diwania and Karbala Governorates (Middle Euphrates Region), Iraq

This study was based on the results of geochemical analysis of 332 core and 10 cutting rock samples from Triassic Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Triassic age, in addition to seismic sections, logs, initial drilling results, final reports of oil wells, and previous studies. Constructing models from these data are to assess new oil reservoirs, evaluation, and development of the existing oil reservoirs and hydrocarbon potential, and suggesting petroleum systems in order to reduce exploration risk and develop simple risk assessment of oil fields in the studied area. In general, Abu-Jir fault zone divides the studied area into two petroleum provinces: Mesopotamian Foredeep Basin and Widyan Basin–Interior Platform. The Mesopotamian Fordeep basin are thick stratigraphic sequences with no exploration for oil or gas source rock intervals within the Paleozoic sequence. while the Mesozoic sequence offers the best potential. The transitional sequence of the Triassic period is expected to contain occasional fair to good quantity of oil source rock intervals. The Widyan Basin–Interior Platform is an area with possible deployment of low to moderate risk of Paleozoic play and Lower Mesozoic plays with fair Triassic and Mesozoic objectives. Oil has generated and expelled into traps in the studied area during two phases; the first is during Early Palaeogene that accumulated in traps of the Cretaceous structural deformation, while the second is during Late Neogene.     

Palynofacies and hydrocarbon generation potential of the upper Triassic Kurrachine Formation and lower part of the Baluti Formation, Mosul Block, Northwestern Iraq

Three exploration wells were selected near Mosul city (Az-29, Bm-15, and Kd-1) to study the palynozones and hydrocarbon generation potential of the Upper Triassic Baluti and Kurrachine Formations. This study was completed in two phases: The first was a study of palynofacies and their paleoenvironmental indications, degree of preservation, diversity of palynomorphs, and organic maturity of the rocks according to palynomorphs’ color using a refracted light microscope. More than 80 slides of organic matter were used for this study. Four palynofacies were tentatively recognized. (1) The first palynofacies is diagnostic of the Baluti Formation in the Az-29 and Kd-1 wells; (2) The second palynofacies appeared at different depths in the Kurrachine Formation in three wells. (3) The third was only found between the depths of 4,534 to 4,685 m in the well Az-29. (4) The fourth was only found between 3,500- and 3590-m depth in the well Bm-15. A distal coastal marine environment is suggested for the Baluti Formation and restricted lagoonal environment for the Kurrachine Formation. The second phase used organic geochemical analyses to confirm the suggested paleoenvironmental and hydrocarbon generation material. Three techniques were used, namely total organic carbon, pyrolysis, and pyrolysis gas chromatography, on more than 35 samples from different depths in three wells. The analyses proved that a sufficient quantity of organic matter occurs that and has suitable maturity for hydrocarbon generation potential of oil and gas.     

Environmental changes in the wetlands of Southern Iraq based on palynological studies

Palynological techniques are useful in reconstructing past environments, especially when other sources of information are lacking. We have embarked on a palynological study of the wetlands in Southern Iraq in an attempt to determine the nature and extent of past plant communities and other conditions prior to the drying of the wetland in the 1990s. Ten 1-m depth cores were collected from selected locations in marshes and shallow open water wetlands in Mesopotamian wetlands of Southern Iraq. Pollen diagrams from three short cores from the Hawizeh wetlands serve as a reference because this site has not been drained. The palynomorphs in these cores were Gramineae, Chenopodiaceae, Typha, Isonandra lanceolata, Bursarea, Artocarpus, Ireantea, Arenga, Crinum, Palmae, Navia, Tofieldia, Ipomorea, Xyris, and Morus. Fungal spores including Polyporisporites, Pluricellaesporites palyadosporites, Fusiformisporites, Spegazzinites indicus, Diporisporites, Plochmopellinites, Lycoperdon, Miliolinites, Dryadosporites constrictus, and Trichothyrites padapakarensis were noteworthy. Charcoal was scattered through the cores and indicate activities associated with human settlements. Many other forms of cuticles, filaments, insects, algae, and foraminifera test linings were also recorded. A second set of pollen samples were analyzed from 160 soil samples from eight cores collected from the wetland area which was dried during the 1990s. These data show a mixture of pollen and spores that could be used to evaluate past vegetation, climatic, and ecological changes. Preliminary results indicated that chenopodiaceous have increased while germinate types have declined which probably reflected desertification and a trend towards a more aeolian landscape during the 1990s. It is hoped that these studies will be useful in establishing conditions of the wetlands prior to destruction and will assist in setting restoration goals in the future. Case studies of one deep borehole (153 m) near Amara city for evaluating late Quaternary history and dig of 3 m depth to evaluate ancient desertification by wetland dryness were taken for correlation and connection with this recent sediment.     

Programed oil generation of the Zubair Formation, Southern Iraq oil fields: results from Petromod software modeling and geochemical analysis

1D petroleum system modeling was performed on wells in each of four oil fields in South Iraq, Zubair (well Zb-47), Nahr Umr (well NR-9), West Qurna (well WQ-15 and 23), and Majnoon (well Mj-8). In each of these fields, deposition of the Zubair Formation was followed by continuous burial, reaching maximum temperatures of 100°C (equivalent to 0.70%Ro) at depths of 3,344–3,750 m of well Zb-47 and 3,081.5–3,420 m of well WQ-15, 120°C (equivalent to 0.78%Ro) at depths of 3,353–3,645 m of well NR-9, and 3,391–3,691.5 m of well Mj-8. Generation of petroleum in the Zubair Formation began in the late Tertiary, 10 million years ago. At present day, modeled transformation ratios (TR) indicate that 65% TR of its generation potential has been reached in well Zb-47, 75% TR in well NR-9 and 55-85% TR in West Qurna oil field (wells WQ-15 and WQ-23) and up to 95% TR in well Mj-8, In contrast, younger source rocks are immature to early mature (<20% TR), whereas older source rocks are mature to overmature (100% TR). Comparison of these basin modeling results, in Basrah region, are performed with Kifle oil field in Hilla region of western Euphrates River whereas the Zubair Formation is immature within temperature range of 65–70°C (0.50%Ro equivalent) with up to 12% (TR?=?12%) hydrocarbon generation efficiency and hence poor generation could be assessed in this last location. The Zubair Formation was deposited in a deltaic environment and consists of interbedded shales and porous and permeable sandstones. In Basrah region, the shales have total organic carbon of 0.5–7.0 wt%, Tmax 430–470°C and hydrogen indices of up to 466 with S2?=?0.4–9.4 of kerogen type II & III and petroleum potential of 0.4–9.98 of good hydrocarbon generation, which is consistent with 55–95% hydrocarbon efficiency. These generated hydrocarbons had charged (in part) the Cretaceous and Tertiary reservoirs, especially the Zubair Formation itself, in the traps formed by Alpine collision that closed the Tethys Ocean between Arabian and Euracian Plates and developed folds in Mesopotamian Basin 15–10 million years ago. These traps are mainly stratigraphic facies of sandstones with the shale that formed during the deposition of the Zubair Formation in transgression and regression phases within the main structural folds of the Zubair, Nahr Umr, West Qurna and Majnoon Oil fields. Oil biomarkers of the Zubair Formation Reservoirs are showing source affinity with mixed oil from the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous strata, including Zubair Formation organic matters, based on presentation of GC and GC-MS results on diagrams of global petroleum systems.     

Palynomorph and palynofacies indications of age, depositional environments and source potential for hydrocarbons: Lower Cretaceous Zubair Formation, southern Iraq

Assemblages of miospores and dinoflagellate cysts encounterd in core samples three boreholes drilled in southern Iraq an Aptian-mid Albian age-range for the Zubair Formation, the largest oil reservoir in southern Iraq and neighbouring Kuwait. Four types of palynofacies have been identified, and are interpreted to indicate delta top swamp and marsh, delta front, prodelta and marine platform environments respectively. Amorphous matter comprises more than 50% of the organic component of some of the palynofacies in the upper part of the Zubair Formation. The rocks with which they are associated are highly rated as a potential source of liquid hydrocarbons. Those deposits yielding less than this (down to 12%) are considered to have moderate potential.     

Sea surface temperature trends in Kuwait Bay,Arabian Gulf

The magnitude 8.1 earthquake and subsequent tsunami killed 52 people when it hit the Solomon Islands on 2 April 2007. That number would have likely been considerably higher were it not for the appropriate reaction of the indigenous coastal populations and a helpful physical geography. Buffering coral reefs reflected some wave energy back to sea, reducing the power of the wave. Hills a short distance behind the coastal villages provided accessible havens. Despite this beneficial physiography, immigrant populations died at disproportionately high rates in comparably damaged areas because they did not recognize the signs of the impeding tsunami. The indigenous population of Tapurai, which lacks a steep barrier reef to reflect the incoming energy, experienced a much more powerful wave, and the population suffered heavy losses. Indigenous knowledge as an integral tool in basin wide tsunami warning systems has the potential to mitigate disasters in the near field. Community-based disaster management plans must be cognizant of educating diverse populations that have different understandings of their environment.