Marsh Bulletin

Recent years, the problem of high salt concentrations in the Shatt al-Arab river repeated affecting
directly on the human water uses, ecology, and agricultural activity of these regions. The study area was
located at the lower part of the Mesopotamian Basin. Five stations were selected for measuring the salinity
and water level. These stations were Hareer on Al-Sallal waterway, Al-Mas`hab on the Al-Mas`hab
waterway, Garmah Bridge near on Garmah waterway, Haritha, and Maqal stations on Shatt Al-Arab
River. The measurements were taken for salinity and water level over 30-day period for two season
(winter, summer). It was measured synchronizing with the days of spring and neap tide during February
and July months. Landsat 8 imagery, Operational Land Imager (OLI) sensor are acquired from USGS for
the study area, in order to monitor and map salt features. The spatial distribution of salinity was drawn
using geostatistical interpolation technique (kriging approach) in ArcGIS 10.1. The study revealed that
water of Mas`hab and Al-Sallal entering Garmah waterways then Shatt Al-Arab river during ebb-tide
period were negatively affected on water quality of Shatt Al-Arab, because of increasing of salinity
concentrations. This study suggested a way to avoid the effects of Mas`hab and Al-Sallal waterways on the
water quality of Shatt Al-Arab river.

The present research aims to monitoring the environmental changes in shatt Al-Arab delta area
southern Iraq . Remote sensing and Geographic information system (GIS) were used to achieve
the objectives of this study . Satellite images of Landsat were used to study the coastal
landforms for the years of 1972 , 1985 , 2006 and 2014 . Change detection is the main approach in
this study were the differences in area are calculated . The result showed the shores of the delta
is gradually Changed, perhaps because of the decline in river discharges of Tigris and Euphrates ,
and thus a decline in volumes of suspended deposits that contribute for construction the beaches
and deltaic marine barriers . the study showed a progress in areas of marine sabkhas and
supratidal flats. as shown in satellite Images there is widening in cross section of the Shatt alArab channel with gradual drift towards the Iraqi beaches

Three weights of chloride (5,11.5and15.5gm) in the form of KCl ,each of them was dissolved in one
liter of tap water, with two replicates for each treatment , two hundred grams of aquatic plant (Lemna
minor L.) were aqua cultured in each water aquarium, then the same above mentioned weights of
KCl were dissolved in the same quantities of water but without adding aquatic plants to these
aquaria, in order to know the remained quantity of chloride ion in these solutions and to compare it
with the one of aqua cultured plant aquaria. Chlorine in all aquaria was evaluated within standard
periods . Tap water characteristics with chlorine before use were measured. It was noted the elevation
of chloride concentration with increasing addition of solution and also with the time. In first
treatment, in water aquaria the concentration raised by 1.5 time increase than it was in the first four
days, while chloride concentration in the third treatment, increased after twelve days by 1.7 time
increase than it was in the first four days . An increase in chloride concentration was also noted in
aquaria of aquatic plants that accompanies the first increase . The increase in chloride concentration
accompanies the increase in added chloride increase and accompanies the first increase but there is
difference in increase rates in aquatic plant aquaria, since the chloride concentration in first
treatment , in the first four days was more than its concentration after twelve days by more than half (
0.66) where as in the second treatment, chloride rates approximated during twelve days , they were
less than the ones in third treatment in which it was noted an increase in chloride concentration, but
with approximation of chloride level after eight days and minor elevation after twelve days, but in
aquatic plant treatment, in the first and second concentrations (T1 and T2) during the first four days ,
chloride concentration raised, whereas it decreased after eight days, it means there was a decrease
by 12.97% ,whereas after twelve days , the chloride level decreased by 31.2%. But in treatment T2 ,
the chloride level decreased during all twelve days of the experiment while the largest decrease
occurred after twelve days, it was by 34.08 %.While in treatment T3, in aquaria of aquatic plants, the
reduction rate in chloride ion increased by 40.83% during eight days , and by 42.6% after twelve
days, but there was an increase in chloride ion level by 12% in the first four days.

The study was conducted at East Hammar marsh during the period May 2012 until May 2013.
Several methods were used for the collection of specimens (live traps, camera trap, direct
observations and other sings. Sixteen species were occurred including Canis aureus , Canis lupus,
Felis chaus ,Herpestes javanicus, Hyaena hyaena, Lutra lutra, Mellivora capensis, Vulpes vulpes,
Mus musculus, Nesokia indica, Rattus norvegicus, Suncus etruscus, Suncus murinus, Sus scrofa,
Hemiechinus auritus, Lepus capensis. Observed species belong to six orders, eleven families and 14
genus. Species were distributed on the following orders as follow ratios; Carnivores (50.%),
Rodentia (18.75%), Soricomorpha (12.5%), Artiodactyla (6.25%), Arinaceomorpha (6.25%),
Lagomorpha (6.25%).