File 1450/1919 ‘Mesopotamia & Kurdistan: Geological Reports on’ [‎95v] (205/522)

Report No. 8.
Prospects of Obtaining Oil in the Quwair Dome.
Maps. —^ incli. T.C. 254 and tlie E. edge of T.C. 250.
INTRODUCTION.
Qnwair is a Gendarmerie Post on tlie left bank of tlie Greater Zab not
on the right bank as shewn on the map—some eight miles from the conflu
ence of this river with the Tigris. A range of low hills rises S.-E. of the
town and extends between two large stream-courses for three or four miles
in the same direction, where it sinks into a rolling upland as far as the
Avanagh Dagh. This range coincides with a clearly defined anticlinal dome
exposing Lower Ears beds for a length of about three miles and a width of
just under a mile. The general direction of the fold, which is a moderately
gentle one, is W.N.-W.—E.S.-E. Exposures are good, but the map is of
very little assistance.
ROCKS.
Lower Ears beds are succeeded in the usual way by the Red Clay and
Sandstone series, and both are very little obscured by alluvium except in the
immediate neighbourhood of the river.
Lower Fars. —Gypsum, limestone and clays of the usual kind are present.
Red Clay and Sandstone Series. —The Red Clay and Sandstone series
also consists of the usual red clays and reddish brown sandstones, the latter
occurring a little earlier than usual. Some six or seven miles from the Zab
River, down fhe pitch of the fold, a series of gravel-covered hills is seen,
commencing close to one of the villages called Tel-al-Khaimah, which did
not appear to correspond with the village of that name on the map, but
rather with ‘ Kiotek ’ ;* it is possible these gravelly hills consist of the Con
glomeratic stage of the Red Clay and Sandstone series (see report on the
Jab-al-Hamrin), and they have been tentatively so coloured on the map, but
no clear sections were observed. These gravelly mounds extend E.S.-E’wards
for two or three miles when sandstones and red clays reappear, partly con
cealed by alluvium. N’wards also of the Quwair dome between Mar Behnam
and the Turkish road, is a gravelly range trending N.-W.—S.-E., which
may also consist of this Conglomeratic stage; no sections could be obtained.
Mesoyot(\mian Alluvium. —The Mesopotamian Alluvium conceals the
Tertiaries along most of the river bank except on the edge of the river itself,
where Lower Fars beds just break through and seep oil. This alluvium
includes gravel and conglomerate close to the river, especially along the N.
bank where the conglomerate is tough and forms prominent cliffs.
New Alluvium. —New Alluvium conceals any Lower Ears there might
be on the N.-W. bank of the river.
STRUCTURE.
The dome can be traced across to the N.-W. bank of the River Zab,
where it pitches very gently in a N.-W. direction along the old Turkish road.
Scarps of Red Clays and Sandstones are here exposed, the dip-slope being
obscured by alluvium. Separated from this, dome by a very shallow syncline,
there appears to be another dome or anticline S.-W. of the road. No Lower
Fars beds are visible on this side of the river within the Quwair dome area.
On the S.-E. side the dome rises distinctly to a point about miles from
Quwair, close to a Survey cairn beside the road. As far as could be made
out the Lower Fars passes up under a transverse tongue of the Red Clays and
Sandstones, which stretches between the two lateral outcrops of the latter
series. Near the cairn the crest is not simple but consists of two minor
parallel crests which extend almost horizontally for about 1,000 yards in a
S.S.-E. direction to another point also close to the road, beyond which the
anticline pitches distinctly towards the E.S.-E. There may be a slight sag
between the two points mentioned, but if so, it is hardly perceptible. The
fold, therefore, is not straight but curves sigmoidally to a slight extent thus :
The general maximum dip on the N.-E. flank is between 15 degrees and
20 degrees, but the dip waves and there are distinct minor puckers of some
sharpness. On the S.-W. the general maximum dip is about 40 degrees,
^Neither Kiotek nor Kirapat appeared to be known to the local farmers and wayfarers
whom we asked.

File 1450/1919 ‘Mesopotamia & Kurdistan: Geological Reports on’ [‎95v] (205/522)

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File 1450/1919 ‘Mesopotamia & Kurdistan: Geological Reports on’ [‎95v] (205/522)

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