'IRAQ AND THE PERSIAN GULF' [‎83v] (171/862)

$ B - mm*
106
GEOLOGY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE LAND
walls. A full-grown underground tributary pours out of the limestone
rocks of the Bekhari defile, 2 miles below Ruwandiz. Near Gerwa
Zhori the Bejan wall has been cut away by torrent drainage, and at
several places there are beginnings of similar action. The north
eastern slopes shelve to a bare plateau which narrows to a tongue
between the junction of the Handren tributary and the Rubar-i-
Ruwandiz, and on this tongue stands the town of Ruwandiz, difficult
of approach from all sides except from the slopes behind (photo. 213).
There are terraced fields and vineyards in the fertile wooded Handren
valley to the east, but generally the lower reaches of the rivers are cut
in deep gorges. Villages on the mountain slopes are often terraced,
the houses rising above one another.
The Karokhi Dagh is a limestone block extending south-east from
Ruwandiz to the Little Zab watershed, a distance of about 13 miles.
It is divided by the Gird-i-Bar pass into two 8,ooo-foot crests; its
north-eastern flanks have been deeply dissected by torrent drainage,
particularly by the Dergala and Mawilian streams, thus forming a
useful route from Ruwandiz to the Persian frontier which avoids the
difficult Berserini gorge.
Beyond the Rubar-i-Chamrakhan the formation changes, the more
regular folds being overlain by great slabs of rock which build up the
Kandil Dagh along the Persian boundary and its western spurs to
heights of 10,000 and 11,000 feet. Beneath this cap of harder rock
the limestone projects as undulating plateaux more open than usual,
but cut deeply by occasional ravines, particularly near the Rubar-i-
Ruwandiz. Villages of Balik Kurds nestle in these ravines surrounded
by a fair amount of cultivation, and in general the valleys and their
gentler slopes are well wooded with dwarf oak, blackberry, walnut
trees, and wild vines. There is a route by Walash to the upper Cham-
rakhan by which pack animals can reach Qala Dizeh on the Little Zab
with some difficulty (p. 102).
The Outer Barrier north-west of the Bekhme Gorge
This block of country is composed of two main chains separated by
the Rozah Shor and Bare Shor tributaries of the Khazir Su. The
outermost has three parts, the Chiyakira Dagh, Aqra Dagh, and Berat
Dagh, separated by the Khazir Su and the Bereshu. North of the
Rozah Shor and Bare Shor are the double-ridged Ghara Dagh and
Piris Dagh, both of which have been eroded by drainage parallel to
their strike. They are most easily described from west to east.
The Chiyakira Dagh extends east-south-east for 28 miles from the