Environmental Geochemistry of the Euphrates River from Al-Qaim to Basra Governate, Iraq: Articles Review

Abstract

The Euphrates River is one of the lengthiest rivers in West Asia. Its length is 2786 km. The river basin has an area of 440,000 km². It enters Iraq, north of Huseiba on the Iraqi-Syrian borders, and cuts through carbonate bedrock forming a very slim strip flood plain. This study describes and explains the hydrochemistry, water quality, water plus sediment pollution assessments, and sediment geochemistry of the Euphrates River within Iraq by reviewing several environmental, geochemical, and environmental pollution in previous papers. The water chemistry of the Euphrates River revealed good and clear results during years 2012 and 2016 and it is characterized by dominant SO4 and Cl ions in 2013, although the water was chemistry altered through the year 2021. The high temperatures and the absence of rainfall contributed to the deposition of large quantities of gypsum on the river bed, which caused the depletion of SO4= in the river water. By way, the sequential of the salt’s precipitation and ions solubility was increased. From 1995 to 2020, it is clear that there are increasing concentrations of toxic trace elements in sediment such as Cu, Ni, Co, and Cd. The content of these elements in the Euphrates River sediments increased towards Basra City with an increase in water salinity due to the climatic changes that occurred in recent years and the desertification of the region. Also, agricultural and industrial activities, domestic wastewater discharge, and irregular continuing human consumption of the river water had the greatest role in causing pollution.