File 1450/1919 ‘Mesopotamia & Kurdistan: Geological Reports on’ [‎93r] (200/522)

At Hammam All there is a well-known spring of hot water, containing
hydrogen sulphide and a little sulphur derived therefrom. This hot water
is accompanied by traces of tarry oil, and there are conspicuous tarry pools
in the immediate vicinity and also E. of the Supply Depot, some with gas
rising. This bitumen has not collected in sufficient quantity for export,
but it has been used locally for roofing and other purposes. The usual odour
of sulphuretted hydrogen characterises these pools.
A small quantity of asphalt was found on the camping ground at Shura,
but as the latter was a swamp of mud at the time, it was impossible to decide
whether it had been brought there or was indigenous; I am inclined to think
it was the latter.
A small sulphur-laden stream was noticed about six miles W. of
Hammam Ali.
Prospects of Boring .—The Mishrak anticline is a gentle one and, besides
the conspicuous Hammam Ali occurrences, at least one seepage of oil is
known. The chief risk of failure in sinking a boring is that the river, which
has eaten well into the N.E. limb, may conceal a fault or faults of magni
tude. There is no evidence in favour of this, and I think the chances are
against it. The prospects of obtaining oil are not unreasonable, and, in my
opinion, warrant a test, which should be sunk a mile or so S.S.E. of Jabaunam
on the crest or 100—200 yards W. of it. The rise in the neighbourhood of
Kharrar and perhaps the country some distance W. of Hammam Ali, may
also be worth exploration, if the boring in the river area is successful. The
parallel anticline pitching towards Shura would, in the latter eventuality,
he worth further investigation. The relationship of this and the Mishrak
fold to that of the Jab-al-Kibritiyah, some distance further west, was-not
worked out; the latter signifies “ Sulphur range,” so that sulphur indica
tions are evidently plentiful and oil seepages not improbable, though none
of the latter were reported to me. If oil should be found in the Mishrak
fold, the country from the river to the Jab-al-Kibritiyah and in and around
the latter, and also the hills N. of the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. -al-Adba, ought to be topo
graphically surveyed on a 4-ins. equal to 1 mile scale, so that the geological
structure may be worked out in detail, and the capabilities of some of the
minor puckers and rolls estimated from an oil-winning point of view.
SULPHUR.
The sulphur in the Tigris branch appeared two miles away to be so.
copious as to Le of commercial importance on a small scale. The supply is,
of course, easily exhaustible temporarily, and, should the small channel be
come unblocked, would disappear in a few minutes. It might provide a
small native industry. I may be able to reach the spot from Kimrud when
I have crossed the river at Mosul, in which case a further report will be
submitted.
ROAD-METAL.
I am frequently asked by Sappers and Pioneers advice as to road-metal.
As stated in a former report, the coarser varieties of the gravel of siliceous
pebbles which so^ frequently borders the river, would furnish an excellent
road-metal, provided it is broken into angular fragments. But since the
difficulty regarding roads, between Sharqat and Mosul for instance and in
many other places, is not to prevent wear and tear of the sur
face, but to prevent portions of the road subsiding or shifting
bodily, I think broken angular fragments of limestone, which may
be locally more plentiful than the gravel and is certainly more easily broken
up, would do equally well. So long as the road is properly ditched and
drained, limestone ” metal ” would probably serve the purpose as well as
the harder chert and sandstone of the gravel pebbles. An experimental sec
tion of road made of limestone mixed with a little gypsum would be interest
ing. I have seen uncrushed gravel pebbles being"used on the roads; this
produces a very transient sort of structure, and seems scarcely worth the
trouble.
E. H. PASCOE, Stjpdt.,
Geol. Sur., Ind.
Dated January 12th, 1919.

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File 1450/1919 ‘Mesopotamia & Kurdistan: Geological Reports on’ [‎93r] (200/522)

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