Heavy Minerals Distribution in the Recent Stream Sediments of Diyala River Basin, Northeastern Iraq

Twenty one samples of stream sediments were collected from the Diyala River Basin (DRB), which represent one of three major tributaries of the Tigris River at northeastern Iraq. This study is concerned with the heavy minerals (HM) analysis in the + 63μ m fraction of the Diyala River sediments, distribution pattern in the various river basin sectors, as well as comparing the present results with previous works. The metastable heavy minerals (epidote, staurolite, garnet) represent more than (30%) Whereas the unstable heavy minerals (pyroxene and amphibole) make only about ( 19 %). Opaque's are present in high proportions reaching about (29%) as an average, and decreasing southwards. The Ultra stable (zircon, tourmaline, rutile) heavy minerals are the miner constituents (7%) in the sediments. According to the laboratory analytical data of heavy mineral distributions the studied sediments are derived from several sources for the heavy minerals including igneous Kirkuk University Journal /Scientific Studies (KUJSS) Volume 10, Issue 4, December 2015 , p.p(415-438) ISSN 1992 – 0849 Web Site: www.kujss.com Email: kirkukjoursci@yahoo.com, kirkukjoursci@gmail.com 417 metamorphic and sedimentary complexes are found in northeastern Iraq that represent by Walash – Nawpordan Series and Mawat complexes in Zagros zones. As well as the detritus sediments transferred from the rock formations that appears in different parts of the basin, which represented by Fatha(upper Miocene), Injana(Middle Miocene ), Muqdadiya (lower Pliocene), Bai Hassan (upper Pliocene), Kolosh (Paleocene-Early Eocene) and Gercus (Middle Eocene) formations, which were derived from igneous and metamorphic rocks and ancient sedimentary rocks located in to the northeast of Iraq .The presence of Zircon and Tourmaline in trace amounts may give an indication for the weak role of acidic rocks in the source area, whereas the Epidote group minerals give an indication for the role of metamorphic rocks.