Petrography and Mineral Content of Sea-floor Sediments of the Tigris-Euphrates Delta, North-west Arabian Gulf, Iraq

Sea-floor sediments of the Iraqi territory of the Arabian Gulf have been studied in detail petrographically and mineralogically. The carbonate fraction of these sediments comprises various allochems in order of abundance: skeletal remains, ooids, peloids, and composite grains. On the other hand, the insoluble residues of the sediments studied consist of quartz, feldspars and mica. The matrix is carbonate micrite, containing various percentages of clays. Mineralogically the carbonate fraction consists of calcite, Mg-calcite, aragonite and dolomite. Mg-calcite, forming the radial cortex of the ooids, is the most unexpected and significant of such components. In addition, the Mg-calcite micritic cement is the most commonly observed diagenetic product resulting in the formation of hardgrounds in some areas. The clay minerals of the (<2 μm) grade are: illite, smectite, chlorite, illite-smectite, kaolinite and palygorskite. They are mainly detrital in origin. The fluvial loads of the Shatt Al-Arab (i.e. Tigris and Euphrates rivers) and Karun rivers, sand and dust from north-westerly storm winds (Shamal) are the main potential sources for the detrital sediments accumulating in the area of study. The indigenous marine organisms and some inorganic precipitation (as Mg-calcite), are additional sources of the sediments and increase in percentage toward the open waters.