Variations in heavy minerals as Indicaters provenance of the recent sediments from the Lesser Zab River, north Iraq

Abstract

This research includes a detailed study of the variation of heavy minerals in the recent sediment of the Lesser Zab River. The studied sediments contain four main mineral groups(iron oxides , chromite ,epidotes ,amphiboles and pyroxenes)that make the main heavy mineral assemblages of the Lesser Zab sediments. Furthermore , few amounts of garnet and flaky minerals are recorded. Heavy minerals have been identified and estimated using both polarizing and binocular microscopes. The results suggest that there is significant difference in the mineralogical and lithological contents before and after the Dokan Dam .The sediments generally are classified as lithic arenites that composed principally of rock fragments followed in amounts by quartz ,feldspars and heavy minerals.