| 91. |
- Adamo, Nasrat, et al.
(författare)
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Geophysical Methods and their Applications in Dam Safety Monitoring
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering. - UK : Scientific Press International Limited. - 1792-9040 .- 1792-9660. ; 11:1, s. 291-345
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The use of geophysical methods in dam sites investigations and safety monitory has proved their good value and versatility in many earthfill dam sites as early as the 1920s. In the following years great development has occurred in the methods, application procedures and tools used. They may be considered today as good ways for carrying out observation tasks on existing dams in non-intrusive and much faster and cheaper ways than the traditional geotechnical methods. It is possible using them to discover anomalies in the dam body or its foundation at an early stage and allowing quick intervention repair works. These methods seek to register and present variations in the basic geotechnical material properties in dams such as; bulk density, moisture content, elasticity, mechanical properties of rocks, electrical resistivity and mineralogy and magnetic properties and so forth. Such variations can indicate increasing seepage flow, progression in cracks’ sizes, formation of voids, caverns and other instability manifestations. Depending on how any investigation is carried out and the targeted anomaly, there is now selection of these methods such as: Electromagnetic Profiling (EM), Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT), Self- Potential (SP), Ground Penetration Radar (GPR), variety of Seismic Methods (SM) which can be applied using such equipment as in Seismic refraction, Seismic Reflection, Multi Analysis of Rayleigh surface waves (MASW) instruments, or using Refraction Micrometer (ReMi), macro-gravity method, and Cross-Hole Seismic Tomography. In addition, Temperature Measurements and other less used methods can be used like Microgravity measurement, Magnetic Profiling and RadioMagnetotelluric methods. An attempt is made here to cover the details of these methods, their advantages and limitations and to prove their usefulness in many dam sites all over the world. One observed issue is their adaptability to embankment dams more than to concrete dams and their popularity for checking seepage related problems and material changes within dam bodies and their foundations such as formation of voids and sinkholes.
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| 92. |
- Adamo, Nasrat, et al.
(författare)
-
Global Climate Change Impacts on Tigris-Euphrates Rivers Basins
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering. - UK : Scientific Press International Limited. - 1792-9040 .- 1792-9660. ; 10:1, s. 49-98
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Climate change is affecting the hydrological cycle all over the World. The effect on arid and semi-arid regions is relatively more. The Middle East and North Africa region is one of the biggest hyper-arid, semi-arid and arid zones in the world where the long-term average precipitation does not exceed 166mm per year. The Tigris and Euphrates basins are located within the northern part of the Middle East. Future projections indicate the considerable reduction in water resources as a result of drought and population growth. North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is responsible for the change in climate over the Tigris and Euphrates basins. This is causing a decrease in rainfall and a consequence decrease in the flow of the rivers. In addition, the temperature is increasing. All these variables are causing sea level rise, increasing dust storms and deletion of groundwater resources. It is believed that quick actions are required to minimize the effect of climate change. This includes prudent water resources planning and good regional cooperation.
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| 93. |
- Adamo, Nasrat, et al.
(författare)
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How Dams Can Affect Freshwater Issues in the Euphrates-Tigris Basins
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering. - UK : Scientific Press International Limited. - 1792-9040 .- 1792-9660. ; 10:1, s. 43-76
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The basins of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers Cover an area of 917103km2 distributed between Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Syria and Saudi Araba. The population within the basins reaches about 50 million inhabitants. The flow of the two rivers is decreasing with time. This is due to the construction of dams and irrigation projects in the upper parts of the basins and climate change. This has an impact on the quality of water within the two rivers. Iraq being the lowest riparian country is highly effected. Analysis of water quality of the water indicates that the salinity of Euphrates water is increasing with time and on the Syrian- Iraqi borders, it is of unacceptable level where it is higher than what is recommended for Irrigation. The Tigris water quality becomes alarming once the river enters Iraq and at Baghdad, it becomes unsuitable for irrigation. To overcome these problems, riparian countries must cooperate seriously to take measures to improve the quality of water within the two rivers.
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| 94. |
- Adamo, Nasrat, et al.
(författare)
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In Old Babylonia : Irrigation and Agriculture Flourished Under the Code of Hammurabi (2000-1600 BC)
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering. - UK : Scientific Press International Limited. - 1792-9040 .- 1792-9660. ; 10:3, s. 41-57
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- After two centuries after the fall of the last Sumerian dynasty of Ur in 2003BC, the first kingdom of Babylon did appear. The Amorites who were Semitic people who had lived in the west of middle Mesopotamia brought the collapse of Ur itself. They appeared as nomadic clans ruled by fierce tribal chiefs, who forced themselves into lands where they needed to graze their herds. There was no Amorite invasion of southern Mesopotamia as such, but the Amorites ascended smoothly to power in many places, especially during the reign of the last kings of the Ur III dynasty, and so the following Amorite dynasty took over the rule of long-extant city-states such as Isin, Larsa, Eshnunna, and Kish and also established new ones. After a brief periods of an Elamites and old Assyrian empire dominations that took place for only 46 years the Amorite kingdom was firmly established in 2004 BC in Babylon and continued until 1595 BC, known in Mesopotamia’s history as the "Amorite Period". Babylon became the major power in the ancient world during the reign of Hammurabi. It was from then that all parts of southern Mesopotamia came to be known as Babylonia. It was during the reign Babylonia witnessed the great care he had devoted to maintain and expand irrigation networks and keep the prosperity of the empire and even so successfully constructing new canals and dams. When Hammurabi established control over the whole region of Mesopotamia by 1760, and especially the city-states of Sumeria, he restored the irrigation canals there to their best conditions and brought water back to areas of the south that were previously deprived of it. His unification of the entire south and the lands north of Babylon allowed him to dig long canals to the various cities of these lands. The canal he called “Hammurabi-is-the-abundance-of-the-people”, for example, ran by Nippur, Isin, Uruk, Larsa, Ur, and Eridu, and covered a stretch of land extending for a distance of some 160 kilometers. These works brought economic development and increased the wealth of the population to unprecedented levels. Hammurabi’s achievement as a lawmaker is specifically highlighted; as he was famous for his “Legal Code” which he had promulgated.
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| 95. |
- Adamo, Nasrat, et al.
(författare)
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Man’s First Strides (The Prehistoric Era)
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering. - UK : Scientific Press International Limited. - 1792-9040 .- 1792-9660. ; 10:3, s. 5-16
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The first steps taken by Man in the long journey towards the establishment of the first known settled society. From the end of the last ice age to this, point which had taken 12000 years. The book explains the changes in climate, which made the first appearance of agriculture and the domestication of animals possible after many thousands of years of food collection and hunting for food. The first attempts to build settled communities are explained, which finally were calumniated in the establishment of stable settlements at the south of modern-day Iraq, where irrigated agriculture was practiced for the first time in history on the edges of its southern marshes. The people known as the Ubaid who were attracted to this place by the temperate climate and the rich resources of the land found such settlement as Ur, Eridu and Uruk. These people, explains the book, practiced irrigated agriculture and pottery and it was from archaeological findings of such pottery and the symbols engraved on them that their history became known to us. However, not having any form of writing, explains the book, the reason why historians had placed al- Ubaid people in the prehistory period, as they have not passed to us any documented written history. The beginning of history as defined by historians and ascertained by the author begins only with the invention of writing which was accomplished by the next People to live in this area who were the Sumerians.
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| 96. |
- Adamo, Nasrat, et al.
(författare)
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Prelude
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering. - UK : Scientific Press International Limited. - 1792-9040 .- 1792-9660. ; 10:3, s. 1-3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Writing history is not an easy or simple task. Even historians normally approach it with caution and care to put the events in the correct perspective in time and setting. Trying to read history of a particular historical event and drawing the right conclusions is, however, an even more difficult work. Different motives may lay behind writing the history of a particular event which necessitates looking into it from different angles and trying to reach an unbiased conclusion. When I decided to write on the history of “Irrigation and Agriculture of the Land between the two Rivers” as an engineer, I thought that the problems involved are insurmountable, and maybe I should leave it to others. The challenge was very strong, and finally I decided to take it. The real problem was not in the absence of references, but on the contrary, there were so many of them that they needed to be scrutinized carefully. Archeologists who had dug in hundreds of sites in Iraq were so many, and their writings were so bulky for their work spanned well over hundred and fifty years. Many historians have also produced thousands of pages on the subject. In selecting resources, much weight had to be placed on primary older references whenever available. In all cases, I have listed the websites in which these resources are found; which is in conformity with the present-day intensive use of the internet to allow readers and researchers to refer back to these original sources for more details.
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| 97. |
- Adamo, Nasrat, et al.
(författare)
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Review of Climate Change Impacts on Human Environment: Past, Present and Future Projections
- 2021
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Ingår i: Engineering. - USA : Scientific Research Publishing Inc. - 1947-3931 .- 1947-394X. ; 13:11, s. 605-630
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Climate changes are one of the most significant aspects, which cause a threatto all human beings living on the planet Earth. Climate changes could happendue to both natural internal processes and external forcing, or due to persistentanthropogenic changes. The identified drastic temperature changes, increasein the emitted greenhouse gasses, and sea-level changes as witnessedfrom the acquired data; such as from ice cores, during the past centuries andeven decades are all due to climate changes. Due to the increase in the emittedgreenhouse gasses, major sectors in the Earth will be hit severely, such asagriculture and industry. Human welfare and health services will consequentlysuffer and development, in general, is going to be hampered. Large parts of theEarth will be unfavorable for living due to different reasons; such as inundationby seawater, decrease in temperature; however, some scientists believe that theincrease in the percentages of the emitted greenhouse gasses has decreased ordelayed the possibility of starting a new ice age. We have presented all possiblescenarios, which may happen due to climate changes including temperaturechanges, emitted greenhouse gasses, sea level, and other harsh effects notonly on human beings but all other living animal and plant species.
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| 98. |
- Adamo, Nasrat, et al.
(författare)
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Sammara and its Canals
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering. - UK : Scientific Press International Limited. - 1792-9040 .- 1792-9660. ; 10:3, s. 223-251
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- As the history of this land continues to unfold, we come to the time when the capitol of the State was moved to a new city to the north of Baghdad, which was called Samarra, and this was the opportunity taken by the Khalifahs to build new palaces and excavate new canals and open more land for cultivation. In this paper details on the building of Sammara by Khalifah al- Mu’tasim, son of Khalifah Harun al- Rashid and moving the capitol to it from Baghdad in the year 836 and remaining as such until 892 are given. One of the main reasons which led al-Muʿtaṣim to build Samarra and moving to it was the problems raised by the presence of his Turkish slave-soldiers in Baghdad and the friction they had created with the population. Al-Muʿtaṣim construction works in Samarra, the various public buildings, and numerous palaces he constructed here are described. As the city was located on the eastern bank of the Tigris, water supply could not be drawn to it by gravity since its location was higher than the river and even higher than the Katul Kisrawi canal adjoining to it from the east. Therefore, the irrigation works of al- Muʿtaṣim were concentrated on the western bank of the Tigris, which he had already connected it to the right bank by building a bridge. The main irrigation work he embarked upon was the construction of Nahr Ishaqi Canal. This old canal dated to the Partho- Sassanid era but it had to be re-excavated and remodeled since it was already filled up by sediments and abandoned. More over the canal had to be extended for a very long distance downstream to irrigate all the qati’as he had given to his top generals and courtiers to develop into cultivations and farms. These farms then produced all sorts of crops and fruits while the large date palm orchards planted here gave the best types of dates. Moreover, the canal in its downward route supplied water to the large tract of land that al- Mu’tasim had reserved for the encampment of his Maghariba troops which was called “Istablat”. Details of the barracks, housing quarters, stables and training arena of the encampment are presented in addition to the three branch canals off taking from Nahr Ishaqi, which were to irrigate also the extensive pastureland that was reserved for the 140,000 cavalry horses to graze in. The canal was then followed to its end in the other old canal called al- Dujail canal. The works of al- Mu’tasim, however, were no match to what his grandson al- Mutawakkil had done which are described. This Khalifah was determined to irrigate Samarra by gravity from the Tigris and to have plentiful water supply to the city and to his palaces and to his many artificial ponds. He embarked on a daring project by constructing a dual kariz and open channel conduit system taking water from the Tigris at a location forty kilometers north of Samarra and running for great part of its length along the Katul Kisrawi canal adapting to the hilly topography of the land. The scheme was then described following its course after crossing the Katul by an aqueduct to an earth reservoir. This reservoir was built to retain the incoming water before distributing it to the main city dual Kariz, and to the canal supplying the Dakka palace. In addition to the flood escape channel that was known as the Nahr Murayr which took off from the west side of the reservoir and passed down to the Tigris where it poured. The main city Kariz system is followed i and the details of its branching network are fully described. Such details covered the water supply to the racing courses, the Dar Khilafa palace and its unique pools intended for the Khalifah’s pleasure and the water supply to Abu Dulaf Mosque congregational mosque with its famous fountain. Having finished in the Tigris at al- Matira this stream could not irrigate the 5000 hectares of land of al- Hayr, or the wild animal reserve created by al- Mutawakkil to practice his hobby of hunting, as this land was above its course. The al- Hayr was so important to al- Mutawakkil that he excavated a new canal directly from the Katul, which commanded the whole area, called it Nahr al Nyzak and gave from its final reach a branch to another palace he built there and supplied one more of his favorite ponds adjoined to it. The construction works of al- Mutawakkil were not confined to Samarra but he extended this to build a new city 18 kilometers to the north of Samarra and called it al- Mutawakkiliyya, and here he again built new government compound, a mosque and gave qati’as to his sons, generals and may more people to build houses and palaces. He built for himself another palace and called it al Ja’fari. To supply the new city with water, he ordered the excavation of a new canal, which he called Nahr al Ja’fari. The intake of this canal was on the Tigris River some forty kilometer north of Tikrit and it followed a course parallel to the river for a considerable distance before it crossed the Katul Kisrawi by an aqueduct and then entered the city. This project proved an engineering failure as the ground, which had to be dug, was extremely hard and the work had to be stopped after spending twenty five million dirham. While some of these works may be considered as grand works, they were very costly and deprived public works such as irrigation networks from their share necessary for their maintenance and proper functioning. This extravagance coupled with political intrigues led to the assassination of al- Mutawakkil in a plot that was planned by his own son. This point marked the beginning of the decline of al- Khilafa which took some more time till it finally collapsed in 1258 fall of Baghdad on the hands of the Mongols. In addition to Samarra and its irrigation work described also the Nahr Dujail canal flowing on the western bank of the Tigris not far downstream from Samarra. Much older than Samarra itself, it was irrigating a large tract of land extending to Baghdad. In description of the course of the canal followed its western branch, which had gone out of use at the Abbasid times and also concentrated attention on the eastern branch that was known as Nahr Batatiya. It irrigated the Tusuj of Maskin before it reached the northern parts of Baghdad and branched into a dense network of watercourses that supplied al- Harbbiyyah quarter. Further details are presented of the various places and parts of this quarter that benefited from these watercourses before the full supply was exhausted. The details as given augment therefore the description of the canal networks serving Baghdad (the round city and the Karkh districts) that had originated from Nahr Isa. The Abbasid Khilafa after it had experienced its golden era began after the assassination of al- Mutawakkil, a long process of slow but steady decline due to multiplicity of reasons.
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| 99. |
- Adamo, Nasrat, et al.
(författare)
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The Abbasids and Tigris Irrigation Canals : The Nahrawan
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering. - UK : Scientific Press International Limited. - 1792-9040 .- 1792-9660. ; 10:3, s. 183-222
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The irrigation of the Sawad lands which depended on the Tigris River are presented as the subject of this paper. In this paper one of the largest irrigation systems, not only of the old world but even today is described; this is the Nahrawn Canal System which irrigated the whole alluvial lands east of the Tigris extending as far east as the foothills of Persia and from Al- Dur above Samarra towards the south for almost 300 kilometers. From the archeological findings and historical writings, we know that this system had existed for thousands of years. The construction of the old Nimrud dam on the River Tigris was associated with the excavation and construction of this canal, and they were both attributed to the days of Hammurabi the famous king of the Chaldeans which had been mentioned previously although the canal may have been excavated in many stages and by successive kings. The canal and its whole systems were kept in good operational conditions by the successive empires who ruled the country as agriculture in this vast area of land had depended entirely on its water supply. The revenue drawn from this agriculture was a major part of the income of these empires which had fueled their progress, prosperity and their wars. Full description is given of the canal itself and the two feeder canals which had supplied it with water from the Tigris south of Sammara. The third feeder excavated by Khusraw Anushirwan which took off from al- Dur north of Tikrit which was called Katul Kisrawi is also described. More canals which were associated with the Nahrawn Canal such as al- Qawrach and Nahr abu el- Jund are detailed with the circumstances that led to their construction. The trunk canal course and the two massive gravity dams, which served as diversion structures on the Adhaim and Diyala Rivers are described, which were obstructing the passage of the course of the canal. Maps and sketches also supported these descriptions. The towns and settlements along the course of al-Nahrawn Canal are detailed with descriptions based on the writings of the Muslim geographers of the Abbasid period who had reported in length about the canal and the state of the country it had served. The canal was also the main source of water supply to the eastern quarters of Baghdad, which had stretched over considerable area during the days of Khalifah al- Mansour and the following Khalifahs. The distributaries of the Nahrawn, which served the eastern quarters of city on the right side of the Tigris, are, therefore, described in details and the dense network of the secondary canals and watercourses branching from them to serve the various quarters of the city are given full attention. In addition to this, the notes and sketches that were made by two British travelers who travelled along the whole course of the canal in three separate occasions at the end of the nineteenth century are documented with their remarks and notes. In addition, the comments of Sir William Willcocks, the famous irrigation British engineer of the same period, are also added. In summary, the story of one of the greatest engineering achievements of the old people of Iraq in addition to narrating the events that led to its decline and final collapse during the last period of the Abbasid Khalifah.
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| 100. |
- Adamo, Nasrat, et al.
(författare)
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The Decline
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering. - UK : Scientific Press International Limited. - 1792-9040 .- 1792-9660. ; 10:3, s. 253-281
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Declining stage of the Abbasid Khilafa is followed meticulously until its collapse in the fall of Baghdad to the Mongols in 1258. The full sequence of events, which had resulted in this most important event to Mesopotamia is followed and the decline in agriculture in the whole of al- Sawad during this is period, is carefully described. Agriculture had formed the main contributor to the economy and strength of the Khilafa State, but it had continuously suffered neglect and destruction during this period due to negligence of the central governments of the irrigation systems and the destruction of these systems during conflicts and revolts that became dominant during the last phase of al- Khilafa State. The large spending of the late Khalifahs and the depletion of the treasury, and their dependence on foreign military troops, who were mainly Turks, to support their rule, mark the beginning. By loss of sizable revenues, this had interacted again with the Khalifahs weakness causing more revolts and anarchy by various unsatisfied groups and by the troops themselves over their unpaid salaries. The war between al-Muntasir and his brother al- Mu’tazz over the thrown following the assassination of their father al-Mutawakkil is detailed by giving full attention to the large damages it caused to irrigation canals and flooding of large areas between Baghdad and Samarra. Following this the revolt of Zanj in Southern al- Sawad and the long conflict with the Qarmatians are then outlined by reporting the reasons and describing the consequences of those important wars in details, accounting at the same time the high costs of these wars and the extent of severe damages to population centres, cultivation lands and their irrigation works. During the Buwayhids period, the Abbasid Khlilafa experienced its worst moments as the Buwayhids did not contribute much to the welfare of the people, nor could they do much to reverse the trend of decline that was progressing. As a matter of fact they had committed their biggest mistake in tearing apart the land ownership system prevailing till that time by introducing a new form of Iqta’ known as the Military Iqta’s. New methods of land and crops tax collection system were introduced and thus disrupting long established procedures that were followed since the Sassanid era and had proved their success. Conflicts and wars during the Buwayhid rule and the large-scale corruption, which are fully reported here, had undermined the central power needed for the proper management of agriculture and for the well keep of the irrigation canal systems. Finally, when the Buwayhid strength was drained they were expelled under a new rising power in the Seljuks. The Seljuks proved during this period to be not much different from the Buwayhids and their Sultans kept the real power in their hands making the Khalifah a titular head of state only. The conditions of the economy was as bad as it was before, and the people complained much over the recurrent crises of extremely high food prices during these times. Worst of all the Seljuk Sultans surpassed the Buwayhids in practicing the Iqta’ of the cultivated land by distributing qati’as not only to the military leaders as the Buwayhids did but they extend this to an unprecedented levels for the Seljuk Sultans had granted all the land to their Seljuk soldiers, their relatives and friends who were only Seljuks. To comprehend the magnitude of this; the number of the soldiers only in the time of Malik Shah who benefited from this system was forty six thousand horsemen; many more high ranking Seljuk persons were also entitled to qati’as under the same rules. With the passage of time the basic principle of this system were violated, and most of the beneficiaries succeeded in keeping the land as their own , used all sorts of abuses towards their farmers and even passed it in inheritance to their children. Some others encroached on neighboring qati’as, which belonged to others, and injustice and corruption became widespread. Negligence to repair these canals in so many cases leading to the permanent abandonment of land is also cited illustrated with many examples. In addition, many striking cases of failures of canals and their head works after large floods are fully described based on the reports given by contemporary writers. The details presented give an insight to the scale of the large fertile areas and the cities and towns that were badly affected and give evidence to the very low level that the State had reached during its last days after losing so much fertile lands and their agriculture.
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