Holocene avulsion history of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in the Mesopotamian floodplain
The present study deals with reconstruction of the ancient courses of the Tigris and the Euphrates in the Mesopotamian floodplain, which covers most of the central and southern parts of Iraq. The focus is on tracing palaeochannel courses, determining when these palaeochannels were active, and understanding the patterns of avulsion and its impact on human settlements of ancient civilisations. The research was carried out using a combination of geological, geomorphological, remote sensing, historical and archaeological approaches. Fieldwork included âgroundtruthingâ of the remote sensing work. A total of thirty seven boreholes were dug, sedimentary and geomorphologic documentation has been carried out, and twenty five shell samples were collected, and analysed by radiocarbon dating. This study has reconstructed palaeochannels and archaeological sites within the area of southern Mesopotamia; intensive networks of palaeochannels and archaeological sites within the study area have been identified. More than eight thousand archaeological sites have been plotted during this study, and most of them show a location and alignment consistent with an identified palaeochannel. Eleven major river avulsions and their
Jotheri, Jaafar Hamzah Abdulhussein
Holocene avulsion history of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in the Mesopotamian floodplain. The present study deals with reconstruction of the ancient courses of the Tigris and the Euphrates in the Mesopotamian floodplain, which covers most of the central and southern parts of Iraq. The focus is on tracing palaeochannel courses, determining when these palaeochannels were active, and understanding the patterns of avulsion and its impact on human settlements of ancient civilisations. The research was carried out using a combination of geological, geomorphological, remote sensing, historical and archaeological approaches. Fieldwork included âgroundtruthingâ of the remote sensing work. A total of thirty seven boreholes were dug, sedimentary and geomorphologic documentation has been carried out, and twenty five shell samples were collected, and analysed by radiocarbon dating. This study has reconstructed palaeochannels and archaeological sites within the area of southern Mesopotamia; intensive networks of palaeochannels and archaeological sites within the study area have been identified. More than eight thousand archaeological sites have been plotted during this study, and most of them show a location and alignment consistent with an identified palaeochannel. Eleven major river avulsions and their
holocene history euphrates river mesopotamian floodplain present_study deal reconstruction_ancient course euphrates mesopotamian floodplain cover central_southern part iraq focus trace course determine active patterns impact human_settlement ancient_civilisation carry use_combination geological geomorphological remote historical_archaeological approach fieldwork include remote_sense work total boreholes dug sedimentary documentation carry shell sample_collect analyse radiocarbon_dating study reconstruct archaeological_site within_area southern_mesopotamia intensive network archaeological_site within study_area identify archaeological_site plot study_show location alignment consistent identify eleven major river