'IRAQ AND THE PERSIAN GULF' [‎90v] (185/862)

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GEOLOGY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE LAND
Zab is that one range, the Ghara Dagh, plunges downwards after
entering the Khabur basin, so that the Khabur is deflected round it
instead of passing through it, its place and that of the Av-i-Sarka
trough being taken on the west by the broad plain of Zakho which
greatly increases accessibility.
The Khabur enters Iraq at 37 0 22' N., 43 0 10' E., and for 14 miles
carves a winding course through the hard calcareous rocks of the
frontier ranges. The gorge walls rise steeply from the river bed and
the current is swift. Avalanches sweep both sides in winter and early
spring; and from February to June the river can only be crossed by
wicker bridges at two places, Nazdur and Chalki, or by raft. The
mountain crests east of the gorge are nearly 4,000 feet above the bed
(c. 2,500 ft.), and two summits exceed 7,000 feet above sea-level
(Mamleshkeri, 7,906 ft.; Zinnar, 7,379 ft.); nomad herdsmen can only
cross in summer. The frontier ranges between the Khabur and the
Hazil are not much easier, but there are more tracks.
The Khabur valley opens out for a short distance about 4 miles
below Chalki where a stream enters from the east after draining the
wooded Barwar-i-Bala depression which leads to the Great Zab above
the Baiznur gorge; but it soon closes in at the Gerago-Bilijan defile
by which it passes the western end of the Ser Amadia. Then the
landscape opens out again as the river picks up the Av-i-Sarka which
enters from a fertile well-wooded valley to the east, 5 to 8 miles wide.
The Khabur is now deflected westwards by the declining folds of the
Ghara Dagh, biting into its northern foot and cutting off a low foot
hill. Fifteen miles west of the Av-i-Sarka the Av-i-Rogarm enters
the left bank and the Khabur meets the Jabal Bakhair. The landscape
opens out on the right bank to the broad treeless but grassy plain of
Zakho, 5 to 10 miles wide, with its rich clay soil and overlying gravel.
The river’s left bank is cut in the gravel scree of Jabal Bakhair’s out
lying spurs. Zakho stands on an island in the river, connected by
bridges with the banks; an old high-pitched Turkish bridge spans
the river just above the village; the Khabur widens and shoals below.
Until June the current may be strong, but a month later the river may
be forded at several places; at one ford about 4 miles below Zakho the
river in the low-water season has been recorded as 80 yards wide,
2^ feet deep, and with a current of 3 miles an hour. In flood-time
Zakho is the starting-point of rafts (kelleks) which pass down the
Tigris to Mosul.
A number of torrent beds score the Zakho plain to the north; some
are perennial. The Hazil, which forms the boundary, cuts across the