| 1. |
- Abdullah, Mukhalad, et al.
(author)
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Floods and Flood Protection in Mesopotamia
- 2020
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In: Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering. - UK : Scientific Press International Limited. - 1792-9040 .- 1792-9660. ; 10:4, s. 155-173
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Mesopotamia is a land where floods have occurred very frequently. Many destructive floods had been registered by historians, who noted also the food control schemes used in those times. Over history, many structures were built and managed, but this work was taken up again by the General Directorate of Irrigation which was formed in 1917 to manage floods and reduce as much as possible losses, in addition to the development of irrigation works. Plans were made to build a sophisticated flood control and protection system. Several projects were proposed, and since the 1950s they were successfully implemented. Many multipurpose dams were built to mitigate flood conditions in addition to their other functions, such as Mosul Dam, Dokan Dam, Derbendikhan Dam and Haditha Dam. Other projects which were solely planned for flood protection include developing and using natural depressions such as Habbaniyah Lake on the Euphrates River and Tharthar Lake on the Tigris River, to protect Mesopotamia from floods. Moreover, the southern marshes in lower Mesopotamia may be utilized for flood protection. This paper deals only with these natural depressions leaving the dams at the time being.
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| 2. |
- Abdullah, Mukhalad, et al.
(author)
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Irrigation Major Systems on Euphrates River within Mesopotamia
- 2020
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In: Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering. - UK : Scientific Press International Limited. - 1792-9040 .- 1792-9660. ; 10:4, s. 199-219
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Euphrates River is one of the two rivers where the civilization and irrigation had started, many major irrigation systems are still operating for centuries. The most important advancement of irrigation within this area happened after 1920s, where new structures were constructed, new canals excavated, new pumps installed, and salt affected lands were reclaimed. The major irrigation projects in along the reach of Euphrates within Mesopotamia are, Great Abu Ghraib, Great Musayab, Hilla Branch projects, Kifl-Shiniafiyah, in addition to many other medium and small size projects. Besides, some important Barrages have been built for controlling water levels of the Euphrates for proper operation, such as Fallujah and Hindiya Barrages. There is a great need for more reclamation in the lower parts of this territory, as well alternatives are needed to avoid discharging saline drainage water to the Euphrates in some projects.
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| 3. |
- Abdullah, Mukhalad, et al.
(author)
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Major Irrigation Systems on Tigris River within Mesopotamia
- 2020
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In: Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering. - UK : Scientific Press International Limited. - 1792-9040 .- 1792-9660. ; 10:4, s. 175-198
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Several irrigation systems have been built at Tigris River basin within Mesopotamia plain. The upper part of Tigris at Mesopotamia is extensively exploited, and several major projects were constructed since the 1970s. These are Ishaqi, Khalis, Diyala Combined Reach, Nahrawan, Dujailya and Dalmaj. Other projects were partially developed, which are Middle-Tigris, Gharraf projects, Great Amarah and KutButaira. The important barrages in this part are Kut Barrage, as well, as the barrages in Amarah area which are of vital importance for irrigation and navigation. Shaat Al-Arab is one of the most important waterways in Iraq. This river has been suffered from water scarcity and riparian countries actions. Solutions for adaptation to adapt the situation were studied and planned carefully, but still there is need for more work to cope with the situation in Basra area.
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| 4. |
- Abdullah, Mukhalad, et al.
(author)
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Soil Salinity of Mesopotamia and the Main Drains
- 2020
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In: Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering. - UK : Scientific Press International Limited. - 1792-9040 .- 1792-9660. ; 10:4, s. 221-230
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Since early civilization and the farmers in Mesopotamia are suffering from the soil salinity. This problem had caused the transfer of power from the Sumerians to the Babylonians in ancient history. Great efforts and research have been made since the beginning of the 20th century to overcome this salinity problem. Experts have concluded that the main reason for salinity is the salt content of irrigation water and the shallow saline groundwater derived from the irrigation activities. General schemes were planned, which involve building a new system of drains in parallel to the irrigation network. The backbone of the drainage system in Mesopotamia is the Main Outfall Drain (MOD). Large works such as Musayab Main Drain, Main Outfall Drain, Great Gharraf Drain, East Euphrates Drain were implemented, but there are still large needs for much more work to be done.
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| 5. |
- Adamo, Nasrat, et al.
(author)
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Badush Dam : Controversy and Future Possibilities
- 2018
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In: Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering. - UK : Scientific Press International Limited. - 1792-9040 .- 1792-9660. ; 8:2, s. 17-33
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Badush Dam is believed to be the first dam in the world which is designed to protect from the flood wave which could result from the collapse of another dam; in this case Mosul Dam. Badush Dam construction was started in 1988 but it was stopped two years later due to unexpected reasons. From that time on many attempts were made to resume construction without success. Its value was stressed in a multitude of studies and technical reports amid conflict of opinions on how to do this. The original design of the dam as a protection dam was intended to have a large part of the reservoir empty to accommodate the volume of the expected flood wave for only a few months during which time it’s content are released in a controlled and safe way to the downstream. The lower part of Badush Dam which has a limited height continues before and after this event to act as a low head power generation facility. Among the later studies on the dam, there were suggestions to introduce changes to the design of the unfinished dam which covered the foundation treatment and also asked for constructing a diaphragm in the dam. A long controversy is still going on with many possibilities but with no hope to reach a final solution soon. Any rational solution must consider both Badush Dam and Mosul Dam together as the safety issue involves both of them. This paper may be seen in six paragraphs. The first three describe in brief the history, the outline design and foundation treatment of the dam, therefore, setting the background to follow the conflicting views over its purpose and future which is discussed in the following two paragraphs. The final paragraph is devoted to discussion and our conclusions.
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| 6. |
- Adamo, Nasrat, et al.
(author)
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Badush Dam : A Unique Case of Flood Wave Retention Dams Uncertain Future and Problematic Geology
- 2019
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In: Engineering. - USA : Scientific Research Publishing. - 1947-3931 .- 1947-394X. ; 11:4, s. 189-205
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Badush Dam is a partially completed dam and a unique case of flood reten- tion dams. Its intended main function is to perform flood protection once in its lifetime; that is if Mosul Dam would collapse. In such a case, the Badush dam would temporarily store the whole flood wave and route it safely to the downstream. For this end, the bulk of the reservoir is left dry, while the re- maining volume at the lower part which is intended for power eneration does not give an economic justification for building the full height of the dam. The short duration of the intended use as a protection dam has led to relaxing many design assumptions which have raised concerns over the dam integrity. The current controversy rages now over whether to continue the construction of the dam as it was first designed or to change all that in view of the similar site geology of Mosul Dam. Mosul dam foundations suffer at the moment from the severe continuous dissolution of the soluble materials in its foundation leading to continued maintenance grouting of that foundation. This paper gives an overview of the history of Badush dam, its current design and what new equirements which are needed if it is to replace Mosul Damitself.
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| 7. |
- Adamo, Nasrat, et al.
(author)
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Climate Change : Consequences on Iraq’s Environment
- 2018
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In: Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering. - London : Scientific Press International Limited. - 1792-9040 .- 1792-9660. ; 8:3, s. 43-58
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Iraq as a country is now suffering from Climate Change Impacts in similar or even worse ways than many other countries of the world. The manifestations of these climate changes are being felt in global warming, changes to weather driving elements and sea level rise. Increasing temperatures, declining precipitation rates and changed distribution patterns together with increasing evaporation are causing water stress in Iraq. However, they trigger other changes in a sort of chain reaction; such as droughts, desertification and sand storms. Iraq is not even safe from the consequences of sea level rise where the southern part of the Tigris- Euphrates delta is threatened by inundation and Iraq’s ports and sea coast line are endangered by such projected rise. So far the agricultural sector in Iraq has been hit very badly by the reduced water availability for arable lands; whether rain fed lands as in the northern part, or irrigated lands using the declining discharges of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers as in the southern and middle parts. These discharges have already been additionally strained by the unfair sharing practiced by Turkey from which most of the two rivers’ water resources originate. The present negative climate change trends seem to be continuing in the future as it is obvious from all projections and studies being performed so far. Loss of cultivable land to desertification, recurrent droughts and sand storms and declining agriculture are the pattern of change in Iraq’s already fragile environment; and this will result inevitably in much more distress for the population in the future and will lead to social unrest. These will add to the great pressures facing all future governments unless the government takes protective planning and solutions.
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| 8. |
- Adamo, Nasrat, et al.
(author)
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Climate Change : The Uncertain Future of Tigris River Tributaries’ Basins
- 2018
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In: Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering. - London : Scientific Press International Limited. - 1792-9040 .- 1792-9660. ; 8:3, s. 75-93
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Global warming is hitting all parts of the world for the last fifty years due to Global Climate Change and it is expected to continue in the future in an increasing trend unless the present mode of CO2 emission is limited or reversed. This is manifested in the rising temperature over land and the changes induced in the general weather circulation patterns over land and oceans. The Tigris River catchment as most of other parts in the world is suffering from increased temperatures and reduced precipitation contributing to reduced water resources elements all over it and reduction of the river stream flow itself. Studies using the soil and water assessment tool SWAT were performed on the five Tigris River tributaries basins in Iraq in order to assess these impacts. This paper summarizes the results of those studies, the characteristics of each of the five basins, and illustrates the application of SWAT as a tool for future predictions. Moreover, it explains in more details the work done on one of the basins as an example, summarizes the results of the five studies and then analyzes these results and discusses the expected future outcomes. The final conclusion which can be drawn is that severe shortage in all water resources elements will occur over the five basins and the Tigris River stream flow will suffer a considerable decline. This situation demands that policy makers in Iraq should take steps immediately to improve water and soil management practices to try and reduce as much as possible the expected damage that will hit all water using sectors.
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| 9. |
- Adamo, Nasrat, et al.
(author)
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Climate Change and the Need for Future Research
- 2022
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In: Water Resources in Iraq: Perspectives and Prognosis (ICWRPP 2022). - : Institute of Physics (IOP).
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Climate Changes have impacted our planet since the beginning of time. These were manifested by cyclic Ice Ages and Warm Periods ever since. The changes were caused by natural forcing such as, continental drift, plate tectonics, major volcanic eruptions, and internal dynamics of earth and oceans interactions with the atmosphere. The present warm period, the “Holocene Epoch”, is not different from other such periods except for the sharp global warming which began at the onset of the industrial revolution. This was proven by scientific research to be due to anthropogenic drives, i.e., increased fossil fuel burning and increased Co2 and other Green House Gases (GHG) emissions into the atmosphere. These gases trap the sun radiation reflected from earth surface and result in higher earth temperature. The steep rate of rise in temperature trend since 1960s is directly linked to the use of much more fossil fuels in power production and transportation. This has led to more research to quantify the changes and their impacts on the environment and humans. This paper gives a brief history of the scientific research carried out hitherto and policy suggestions made so far to combat the negative impacts of the increasing global warming of the world. Needed future scientific research in this field is outlined, while at the same time suggesting the needs of Iraq of such research. This includes among other things, forming a regional scientific panel for the Middle East countries (ME. IPCC) for carrying out research on regional level, fostering research on national level, encouraging academics for climate change-oriented research and providing the necessary funds and facilities for such research.
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| 10. |
- Adamo, Nasrat, et al.
(author)
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Climate Change: Droughts and Increasing Desertification in the Middle East, with Special Reference to Iraq
- 2022
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In: Engineering. - : Scientific Research Publishing. - 1947-3931 .- 1947-394X. ; 14:7, s. 235-273
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Climate change impacts on Earth’s atmosphere have caused drastic changes in the environment of most regions of the world. The Middle East region ranks among the worst affected of these regions. This has taken forms of increasing atmospheric temperatures, intensive heat waves, decreased and erratic precipitation and general decline in water resources; all leading to frequent and longer droughts, desertification and giving rise to intensive and recurrent (SDS). The present conditions have led to increasing emissions of (GHG) in the earth atmosphere. All future projections especially those using (IPCC) models and emission scenarios indicate that the Middle East will undergo appreciable decrease in winter precipitation with increasing temperature until the end of this century both of which are inductive to increased dryness and desertification. Iraq as one of the countries of this region and due to its geographical location, its dependence mostly on surface water resources originating from neighboring countries, long years of neglect and bad land management put it in the most precarious and unstable position among the other countries of the region. Modelling studies have shown that Iraq is suffering now from excessive dryness and droughts, increasing loss of vegetation cover areas, increasing encroachment of sand dunes on agricultural lands, in addition to severe and frequent (SDS). These negative repercussions and their mitigations require solutions not on the local level alone but collective cooperation and work from all the countries of the region.
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