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File 1450/1919 ‘Mesopotamia & Kurdistan: Geological Reports on’ [83v] (181/522)
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.
If.: i' 1
. Alluvium and Gravel.
The hills to the south-west of Kifri are covered with gravel and the solid is concealed in many
places. Recent Alluvium occurs in the valley at the foot of the hills and in river valleys.
(3) INDICATIONS OF OIL, SEEPAGES, etc.
Kifri lies in a zone of seepages g. Naft Kanah, Palkana, Tuz Khurmatu and Kirkuk and at
Kifri there are some indications of the presence of oil.
(a) A bituminous deposit, which has been known for a long time as “ Kifri Coal ”. Porro and
Kissline state that in 1905 250 tons were mined and taken to Baghdad for fuel. Dun ng the war it
was 3 wSked by die 1 Turks for fuel for river steamers and railway but no figure of the output is
available Mr. J. Brown has reported very fully on it so only a brief description is required here.
About miles E.S.E. of Kifri, about 800-900 feet above the base of the Upper Pars there is an
outcroo of black coal-like substance with glassy lustre and conchoidal fracture. In the pits it occur,
outcrop ot , " f r C i ; c; C( ; a n 1 d nK J one b edding planes. It is in considerable quantity over an area of some
600 yards and then tails off in each direction. The mode ° f ^o^eofthepits there is
mcf/rial show that it is a form of solid bitumen, usually called Manjak . In one ot tne pits mere is
^dence ofTsmaU fault or fracture and the strike of the beds is locally altered from the general
N W -S E direction. Many veins of gypsum are associated with it.
(h) A small seepage occurs about 8-9 miles E.S.E. of Kifri in the hills to the north-east of the
gypsum outcrop In a pit which has been dug in the marl and sandstone of the Bakhtian Senes not
far from the junction with the Upper Pars, a little oil is seen floating on water and there is a small
evolution of gas and sulphur. The oil is used by Arabs, but the quantity is very small.
(4) GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE.
The Kifri Dagh and its conhnuatmns is^neof the
orthe Uppm Fars and Bakhtiari ; further to the north-east is the jabal Gilabat “c^he same
beds occur, but the conglomeratic stage of the Bakhtiari ^ represented In Kifri Daght e
Lower Pars beds crop out and form a steep escarpment with the beds dippin„ to N E„ folio
by the whole of the Upper Pars and then by a great thickness of Bakhtiari.
The whole appears to be part of a huge anticlinal or monoclinal fo >d ™hich is Plunging to the
S E. as evidenced by the narrowing of the outcrop m ^".1 ^
under the Upper Pars at a point some 6 to 7 miles south-east of Kifri. The extension ot i ioge
toward Kirkuk will be examined later.
To the south-west of the range extends an alluvial plain some two miles wide from which low
hills ride Th^e hills are capped with gravel but in places the solid is exposed-beds of the
Bakhtiari Series with a dip to the N.E. of 10 to 15 degrees.
alluvium ^ be understood by section A-B accompanying this report In the allu
vial plain at the foot of the hillls there must be a fault with a downthrow to the south-west, wl ic
^ i pu r ot- onri TTnnpr Pars beds to have been completely concealed beneath the
to the north-east will probably provide the necessary data to settle t is. -
A diagrammatic section has been drawn through the Jf^'idTrukh^ has bee'n used for
hills to illustrate the general structure Dr Pascoe’s report on the Jabal Gilabat has been
this purpose.
(5) PROSPECTS OF THE DISTRICT.
(a) Presence of oil —That the underlying beds contained oil at one time is clear fiom the
^d^^lges “S “ of Sue ou'tcrop of
Lowefpars It therefore be assumed that the Lower Pars of this district is oil-bearing.
(b) Cat Rock. About 1,000 feet of the Lower Pars has^“^J^oSer conditions befog
ness of the formation is probably in the neighbourhood ot 2, ,
right there should be sufficient cap rock.
(c) Geological structure.— The behaviour of the fault which cuts off one ° ^ the
monocline is of primary importance. Its effect may have been to ave cau
bulk of the Lower Pars beds in this district. c ;miiq r
The prospects may be summed up as very uncertain ; as there are severa p aces
structure occurs, it may be necessary to make a test of one of them, as oil might be held up in
quantities on the upthrow side of one of these faults.
SUMMARY.
Kifri is about 80 miles to the N.N.W. of Baghdad.
(1) GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS.
The following formations are present, starting with the oldest :
Lower Pars .—About 1,000 feet exposed beds of the usual type.
Upper Pars .—Thickness about 2,500 feet.
Bakhtiari.—A great thickness present.
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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- Title
- File 1450/1919 ‘Mesopotamia & Kurdistan: Geological Reports on’
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- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:19v, 22r:29v, 32r:43v, 45r:87v, 89r:167v, 177r:182v, 184r:184v, 186r:197v, 202r:219v, 221r:245v, back-i
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