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File 1450/1919 ‘Mesopotamia & Kurdistan: Geological Reports on’ [43r] (98/522)
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
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Geological Report (Mesopotamia) No. 6.
NOTES ON ZAKHO AND DOHUK.
INTRODUCTION.
Zakho is a village about 60 miles N.N.W. of Mosul on an island in the middle of the river
Khabur, and Dohuk is at the southern end of the Amadia Pass, about 35 miles N. of Mosul.
The following notes were made in the course of an examination of the commercial possibilities
of the bitumen and building-stones of the Tigris valley, on behalf of the Military Authorities.
Work was much interfered with by rain and owing to the late Kurdish disturbances my /
examination of the Zakho valley was confined to a very rapid visit to the nearest oil-wells and obser- |
vation through field-glasses from the top of the hills to the south of the village.
1. MAPS.
Both areas have been surveyed on the scale, but unfortunately in the Zakho valley the
oil-wells are situated just outside the surveyed area and Dohuk is on the extreme eastern edge of the
available sheet. There is also a map of the country north of Mosul, which reaches up to, but
fails to include, Zakho. • * .
maps Na 137 N.W. & N.E. & N °‘ 137 S.W. & S.E.
I" map T. C. 257.
2. PREVIOUS WORK DONE IN THE DISTRICT.
In 1910 Grosskopf made a short report on the Zakho oil-wells for the Turkish Civil List. He
made no attempt to work out the structure of the district.
3. GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS.
A. Zakho.
The solid rocks exposed probably range from the equivalent of the Ashmari limestone fo the
Bahktfari beds, but, owing to the rapidity of the examination and the change in facies of the Lower
Pars from anything that we have so far seen, it is impossible to make definite assertions.
1. Basal Limestone .—This is a hard, brown, compact limestone with white spots representing
organic remains. It breaks with a very smooth fracture and is well-bedded in beds from 2-15 feet
{hick. This limestone was obtained in the core of the anticline in the pass to the south of Zakho.
I have, provisionally, considered it to be Ashmari in age, but it may only be a local development
of the limestones above it.
Mr. Harrison of the Anglo-Persian Oil Coy. informs me that the hand-specimens,, which I
showed to him, are quite unlike Ashmari limestone or any other limestone which he has seen in
Persia.
2. Lower Pars .—Along the road from Mosul to the entrance to the Zakho Pass only the normal
development of the upper part of the Lower Pars and normal Upper Pars was seen, except in the
Dahkan Dagh east of Faidah where the limestones described below appeared to be exposed.
North of the entrance to the pass the Lower Pars consists of about 1,000 feet, (min) of well-
bedded limestones with a distinct resemblance to the Mishraq Limestone {see Geol. Report No. 4).
Grosskopf mentions the occurrence of “ the gypsum marl zone” but no gypsum beds were
seen by me and the owner of the oil-wells told me that no gypsum occurs in the area.
2. Upper Pars .—Consists of green weathering sandstones and red marls. The formation must
be at least 2,500 feet thick.
4. Bahktiaris .—Consist of red marls and conglomerates, the latter being well developed in the
higher exposed beds. About 1,500 feet, are exposed.
5. Recent Deposits .—Cemented river gravels and alluvium are present in the valley and great
difficulty was experienced in distinguishing the gravels from the Bahktiari conglomerates as the
former have been derived directly from the latter.
B. Dohuk.
Limestones of the type seen at Zakho form the hills N. & S. of the village. Below the lime
stones <4 the Northern Range are 700-800 feet, of bright red marls with thin impersistent limestone
beds. I cannot correlate these marls with anything yet seen.
4. SEEPAGES, MANJAK, Etc.
A. Zakho.
(a). Seepages—The seepages are seven miles east of Zakho, beyond the village of Tawak. They
occur, in two areas about 100 yards apart along an E.-W. line at the top of a low ridge of hills
composed of sandstones and marls of the Upper Pars. I saw no indication of Lower Pars. The
first area is large (reckoned by Grosskopf at 120 acres and is covered with asphalt, much of which
has flowed down into two little subsidiary valleys.
Five seepages are worked. At two of them the oil is scooped oft the surface of small pools,
which yield about one Kerosene oil tin in every 24 hours. The other three have been dug, pne to 4
metres and the other two to 20 metres in depth, and the oil is raised by hand-winch : 12-17 tins
per 24 hours are obtained by this method from each. The third of these dug wells is situated in
the second seepage area, which is of less extent than the first.
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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- File 1450/1919 ‘Mesopotamia & Kurdistan: Geological Reports on’
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