File 1450/1919 ‘Mesopotamia & Kurdistan: Geological Reports on’ [13v] (31/522)
The record is made up of 1 volume (244 folios). It was created in 1 Dec 1917-26 Jun 1922. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
GEOLOGICAL REPORT (MESOPOTAMIA) No. 9
ON
THE ARBIL DIVISION.
Introduction.
This examination was carried out by order of the Civil Commissioner during March and April,
1920. The country mapped lies between the Greater and Lesser Zab Rivers from the Tigris to
within twenty miles of the Persian Frontier ; i.e. to a line drawn from Derbend (near Rania) on the
Lesser Zab to the southern end of the Rowanduz gorge.
Owing to the difficulty o£ travel in the hill country of Kurdistan not all the country mapped has
actually been visited, so that, though we are confident that our general interpretation of structure is
correct throughout, we cannot vouch for complete accuracy in detail in some of the less easily
visited mountain localities.
Our thanks are due to the Political Officers of Mosul and Arbil Divisions for their kind co-oper
ation and assistance.
(I) MAPS.
The country along the Banks of the Tigris has been mapped on the l" scale, from 15-20 miles
noi Ji-easi oi Arbil to the Qarah Chaugh Dagh on the scale, further to the north-east on the %■'
scale. These latter maps are so inaccurate as to be practically valueless. The maps used were :
l" scale ... 138 M/2 & 6. 138 M/l & 5. T. C. 248 (A).
^ scale ... 138 M/SE 138 M/NE. 137 P/SE. I D/SW. 2 A/NW.
i scale ... Rowanduz I D &H, Maunsell Sheet 33.
(2) PREVIOUS WORK DONE IN THE DISTRICT.
In 1838 Ainsworth traversed the southern portion of the district.
j A 11 an< ^ Kisllmg, in the course of a tour of the country examined the Quwair dome
and the Qarah Chaugh Dagh.
In 1918 Dr. Pascoe reported on the Quwair dome.
(3) GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS.
All formations down to the Cretaceous are exposed in the area. Beginning with the oldest
Cretaceous.
This formation consists entirely of limestones, and, although in places at least 2 000 feet ire
exposed, no base was seen. The limestone is a massive, greyish, lightly crvstalline m'rl- vn'o i m
developed bedding planes; in places it contains secdSns of ^
other fossils. Frequent beds have m abundance peculiar fragmentarv organic Vem ’ ° ! u and
believe to be Hippurites. Capt. Rundle A P O Koi SmTiak irv r 1 lemam "’ whlch we
Ammonites very well preserved in Iron Pyrites from’the neighbourhood Behvat f 0 Th™* ‘7°
ceous is only exposed in the hills of Kurdistan. ° OCl ol Betwata - The creta -
Cretaceous Passage Beds.
Above the Cretaceous limestones are 150-200 feet of whitish marlv fisdlp i;™ r -hi •
pyrites nodules. They appear to be perfectly conformable with the CvM * Iim f tone with iror
dually into the Eocene Shales above. We found no identifiable^ PaSS Up gra ‘
Though these maily limestones appear to be more closplv allipri mu i •
than to the cretaceous, we have placed them provisionally here since Loft y 1° Tl 6 EoCene
fossils from beds in Persia which we believe to be analagous with these L reP ° rtS Cletaceous
0. J tTvo" x!) Ge0l0gy ° f POrti ° nS ° £ the Turko - Persian Fr -tier and of the District adjoining
We have found it necessary to abandon our original division of tfip Fopp,^ •
senes and an upper limestone series, owing to the encroachment of thp i • ln A° , a owei ma
stones in this and other districts. We have now adonted tfip tp,-m« rA mar j l llto the ll PP9r lim
is likely that part of the U>per Eocene wdl prove m il m Eocene,
forthcoming. The marls at the extreme base are on the whol^of^ Y hen tossil evid ence
the series and may represent the bitumenous marls whipfi T nfi ^ A? l0Ur than the rest <
top of the Cretaceous. As we have fou^dNuZ/ht^t r“ "bareol’the't Z PlaCed at «
Sulaimamyah district, we have placed the whole in the Eocene ha C Senes
in
About this item
- Content
This volume contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, telegrams and maps and geological drawings, regarding the geological examination of regions in Mesopotamia and the prospect of petroleum [oil] in these areas.
Included in the volume are the following reports:
- ‘MESOPOTAMIA GEOLOGICAL REPORTS No. 7-11’ (‘No. 7’ is crossed out and replaced with ‘No. 8’), 1920 (ff 9-22)
- ‘GEOLOGICAL REPORT (Mesopotamia) No. 7 NOTES ON THE UNDERGROUND WATER RESOURCES OF NORTHEN MESOPOTAMIA’, 1920 (ff 25-31)
- ‘GEOLOGICAL REPORT (Mesopotamia) No. 6 NOTES ON ZAKHO AND DOHUK [Duhok]’, 1920 (ff 41-44)
- ‘MESOPOTAMIA GEOLOGICAL REPORT 1919’, 1920 (ff 57-109)
- ‘REPORT OF THE BITUMINOUS DEPOSIT NEAR KIFRI’, 1919 (f 114)
- ‘GEOLOGICAL REPORT (Mesopotamia) No 5. THE KIFRI DISTRICT’ (ff 115-116)
- ‘GEOLOGICAL REPORT (Mesopotamia) No 4. RECONNAISSANCE REPORT ON THE COUNTRY ON THE RIGHT BANK OF THE RIVER TIGRIS BETWEEN BAIJI AND MOSUL’, 1919 (ff 122-129)
- ‘GEOLOGICAL REPORT (Mesopotamia) No 3. RECONNAISSANCE REPORT ON THE EUPHRATES VALLEY BETWEEN HILLAH AND HIT’, 1919 (ff 131-143)
- ‘GEOLOGICAL REPORT (Mesopotamia) No 2. PRELIMINARY NOTES ON THE JABAL HAMRIN’, 1919 (f 143)
- ‘GEOLOGICAL REPORT (Mesopotamia) No 1 ON THE DISTRICT OF QAIYARAH [Al Qayyarah]’, 1919 (ff 146-151)
- ‘APPENDIX. Translation of a Captured Document. Report of a Tour to the Coal Area and Petroleum Springs in the Zone of the Sixth L. of C. Inspectorate’, 1919 (ff 156-158)
- ‘No 13. Notes on the Jabal Gilabat [Qilabat] between Chinchal-al-Kabir and Qarah Tappah’, 1919 (f 164)
- ‘No 14. Notes on the Jabal Hamrin between Qarah Tappah and Table Mountain’, 1919 (ff 164v-167)
- ‘No. 10. Notes on the Geology of the Country between Tazah Khurmatu and Tauq [Tukhama Khulu]’, 1919 (ff 182-185)
- ‘REPORTS ON THE PROSPECTS OF PETROLEUM IN THE BAGHDAD WILAYAT [Vilayet]’, 1918 (ff 187-201)
- ‘Report No 9. Oil in the Kirkuk Anticline’, 1919 (ff 204-205)
- ‘No 3. Report on the Prospects of Obtaining Oil in the Jab-al-Khanuqah, S.E. of Sharqat [Ash Sharqat]’, 1918 (f 207)
- ‘No 4. Prospects of Obtaining Oil in the Jab-al-Qaiyarah and its continuation, the Jab-al-Najmah’, 1919 (ff 208-209)
- ‘No 5. Possibilities of Obtaining Oil in the Jab-al-Mishrak [Al Mishraq] and Country West of Hammam Ali [Hammam al Ali]’, 1919 (ff 210-211)
- ‘No 6. The Country between Mosul and Quwair [Al Kuwayr] on the Greater Zab, and its Prospects as Oil-producing Territory’, 1919 (ff 211v-212)
- ‘Report No 7. Sulphur near the Confluence of the Greater Zab with the Tigris’, 1919 (f 213)
- ‘No 8. Prospects of Obtaining Oil in the Quwair Dome’, 1919 (ff 213-214)
- ‘Appendix to Report No. 4, on the Jab-al-Qaiyarah Oil-field’, 1919 (f 214v)
- ‘Report on the prospects of obtaining Oil in the Jabal-Hamrin and Jabal- Makhul between Tikrit and Sharqat’, 1918 (ff 217-218)
- ‘Odd Notes on the Country between Tikrit and the Jabal-Hamrin and Jabal Makhul’, 1918 (ff 219-220)
- ‘PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE PROSPECTS OF PETROLEUM IN THE BAGHDAD WILAYAT’, 1918 (ff 233-236).
Also included in the volume are the following maps and geological drawings:
- ‘TO ACCOMPANY GEOLOGICAL REPORT MESOPOTAMIA No 8’, 1920 (f 20)
- ‘To ACCOMPANY GEOLOGICAL REPORT MESOPOTAMIA No 8 ON THE SULAIMANIYAH DISTRICT’, 1920 (f 21)
- ‘TO ACCOMPANY GEOLOGICAL REPORT MESOPOTAMIA No: 7a. THE WATER RESOURCES OF THE MANDALI-BADRAH DISTRICT’, 1920 (f 30)
- ‘GEOLOGICAL REPORT (MESOPOTAMIA) No 7 NOTES ON THE UNDERGROUND WATER RESOURCES OF NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA’, 1920 (f 31)
- ‘TO ACCOMPANY GEOLOGICAL REPORT No 6’, 1920 (f 44)
- ‘TRANSVERSE SECTION. JABAL HAMRIN’ (f 88)
- ‘Diagrammatic Section across Jabal Hamrine [Hamrin] in the Table mountain area, shewing [showing] relationship of Pos Tertray [Post-Tertiary] Gravel to the Tertainis [Tertiaries]’ (f 168)
- ‘Red Clay & Sandstone Series Transverse section across Jabal Gilbat’ (f 169)
- ‘QĀRAH TAPPAH’, 1918 (f 170)
- ‘CHINCHĀL-TALISHĀN’, 1918 (f 172)
- ‘SHAHRABĀN’, 1917 (f 174)
- ‘MANSURĪYAH AL JABAL’, 1918 (f 176)
- ‘1 Diagrammatic Section N[orth]. of the Tuz Khurmatu’ (f 183)
- ‘2 Diagrammatic Section oposite [ sic ] Sulaiman Beg, just N[orth]. of the stream’ (f 183)
- ‘3 Diagrammatic Section oposite [ sic ] Sulaiman Beg just S[outh]. of the Stream’ (f 183v)
- ‘Transverse Section across Jabal Nasaz near Gil’ (f 185)
- ‘GEOLOGICAL MAP OF NAFT KHANA DISTRICT OF MESOPOTAMIA’ (f 198)
- ‘THE PETROLEUM DEPOSITS OF HIT’ (f 199)
- ‘GEOLOGICAL RECONNAISSANCE IN N.E. MESOPOTAMIA’ (f 200)
- ‘SECTION FROM SHAHRABAN TO CHAH SURKH [Chiya Surkh]’ (f 201)
- Transverse Section Maps of Jabal Hamrin and Jabal Makhul (f 220).
The volume comprises internal correspondence between British officials of different departments. The principal correspondents are: the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad; the Under-Secretary of State, India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. ; the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , Baghdad; officers of the Imperial Mineral Resources Bureau; and officers from the Petroleum Department.
The volume includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (244 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume’s contents are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 246; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
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- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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