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File 1450/1919 ‘Mesopotamia & Kurdistan: Geological Reports on’ [211v] (453/522)
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.
A.
No. 6.
The Country between Mosul and Quwair on the
Greater Zab, and its Prospects as
Oil-producing Territory.
Map. —J inch T.C. 250 (Part already submitted).
MOSUL.
In the town of Mosul the gypsum of the Lower Pars series is largely
used as an ornamental stone, and is known as “ marble ” or “ Mosul
marble.” Although it has no connection with marble, it is, when dressed
and polished, remarkably like that stone, especially when streaked and veined
with greyish impurities. It is, of course, softer than marble, being scratched
with the finger-nail; nevertheless it is surprising how the stone keeps its
shape, even when intricately carved, provided it is not subject to any but
atmospheric abrasion. I have remarked before on the surprising resistance
of gypsum “ in situ ” to the weather, and this quality is well exemplified in
nearly every house of consequence in Mosul. For steps or staircases or any
purpose involving mechanical wear it is unsuitable, but for window plinths,
doorways, cornices, and especially for any internal decorative stone-work, it
serves well enough where cheapness is a predominant consideration. It
takes a fair polish, which, however, does not last very long.
GRAVEL.
The eastern half of the city of Nineveh contains a hard conglomerate,
which has been mapped as the equivalent of the Alluvial Gravel. It ha&
no appreciable dip, is comparatively low-lying, and newer-looking than that
mapped as Pleistocene at Fathah, but there is very little difference in
character between the twm. It is seen in many places further S.-E., over-
lying Lower Ears beds at Hawi Arslan and' near Salamiyah. Between
Nimrud and Quwmir it appears to be interbedded between alluvial silt, like
the gravel described in former reports. Above Quwair its pebbles are of con
siderably size and are, therefore, admirably suitable for breaking up into
road-metal. Fragments of silicified wood are not uncommon, and are in all
probability derived from the sandstones of the Red Clay and Sandstone
series.
ANTICLINE LINE IN LOWER EARS.
Southwards from Nineveh, Low r er Ears beds first make their appearance
from beneath the alluvium near Kiz Fakrah, and from the Qarah Quyunli
stream-course a broad patch fringes the river as far as Salamiyah. A small
outcrop is seen two miles further on, and the oil occurrence S.-E. of Nimrud
probably denotes a continuation of it beneath the alluvium. This long out
crop is probably continuous beneath the Tigris with that on the west bank of
the river, but appears to constitute a minor line of anticlinal folding, the
river occupying a shallow syncline of red clays and other soft beds belonging
to the upper horizons of the Lower Ears series. Some red sandstone in the
stream-course at Salamiyah might possibly belong to the Red Clay and Sand
stone series.
HAWI ARSLAN DOME.
There is a distinct crest-maximum or dome-structure at Hawi Arslan,
where limestone forms prominent hills. This limestone is succeeded
E’wards by red clay as far as and beyond Yangijah. A fossiliferous lime
stone containing a radially ornamented oyster is seen in this red clay about
a mile E. of Hawi Arslan and again close to Yangijah, so that much, if not
all, of the red clay belongs to the Lower Ears. Whether the structure be
tween the two occurrences is synclinal or ^anticlinal was not determined. If
the former, at least some of the red clay between the two may belong to the
Red Clay and Sandstone series, but the beds are never far from horizontal,
and there could only be a few feet at most of this series present. A little
coarse sandstone was seen in the Lower Ears, E. of Qarah Quyunli. . A little
tarry oil exudes from tw r o or three spots, with the usual accompaniment of
sulphuretted hydrogen and sulphur, near the mouth of the small stream de
bouching at Hawi Arslan, so that this little dome or crest-maximum is worth
testing. The horizon from which the oil seeps is very likely the same as
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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- IOR/L/PS/10/815
- Title
- File 1450/1919 ‘Mesopotamia & Kurdistan: Geological Reports on’
- Pages
- 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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- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
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- Open Government Licence