Abstract
Mineralogical study of the light and heavy fractions of the recent sediments of Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and sonic of the older deposits revealed the presence of seven minerals in the light fraction and 32 mineral species represented by 41 varieties in the heavy fraction. The recent sediments of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers as well as the Pleistocene terraces of the Euphrates and the Upper Fats deposits (Late Miocene) contained the same mineral species in about the same relative frequencies, characterized by an abundance of iron ores, epidotes, amphiboles and pyroxenes that make more than 80 percent of the heavy fraction. Shatt el Arab sediments contained a similar assemblage derived mainly from the disintigration of metamorphic and basic igneous rocks. The Aqsu and Adhaim Rivers showed an assemblage characterized by an increase in the relative frequencies of epidotes.
