A study for the evaluation of some physical and chemical properties of soil and water of certain sites in southern Iraqi marsh called Umm Naaj, a part of Al-Hawizeh Marsh, has been carried out using the integration between fieldwork, lab analyses, and GIS techniques. Sixteen water and soil samples were collected, then transferred to the lab. In the lab, some chemical properties of water samples were determined, while soil samples are subjected to some chemical and physical analysis. IDW method in GIS software had been utilized for interpolation of spatial distribution of chemical and physical properties of soil and water through the study area. Results of analysis and interpolation maps showed that the clay fraction was the dominant in soil samples, followed by silt and sand. Regarding chemical properties, all soil samples are an alkaline reaction. The percent of minerals for silt fraction indicate that calcite was the dominant mineral followed by quartz and illite. The x-ray diffraction analysis results indicated the presence of regular Mica-Smectite mixed layer mineral. The interpolation maps indicated that there is an effect of sediments on some properties in different levels where some properties were highly affected and some moderately and some have no effect on soil and water quality.

This study has been carried out in  Alkut city the center of Wasit province which is located about 180 km south of the capital Baghdad on one from the most important dams constructed on theriverTigris called Alkut Dam  .Four pedons have been selected in this study, two pedons (A,B) are located in  the lower part of dam and the other two pedons (C ,D) are located in the upper part of dam ,  sediments samples analysis for particle  size distribution  and  total  & available  heavy metals concentration (Ni ، Cd ، Zn ، Pb ،Fe) in the water and sediments. Results show that the total concentration of nickel ranges between(104.2 - 178.4) mg.kg-1and the higher value has been found in the second depth (156-126)cm for pedon A  and the lower value has been found in the second depth (50-30) for pedon D ,  while total cadmium concentration ranges between (6.1-2.2)mg.kg-1and the higher value has been found in the second depth (35-20) for pedon A at the lower part of dam  and the lower value has been found in the sixth depth (73-93cm)for the same pedon , the values for total Zinc concentration ranges between  (108-69) mg.kg-1 and the higher value has been found in the fifth depth (73-55)cm for pedon A at the lower part of dam  and the lower value has been found in the last depth (120-100cm) for  pedonD in the upper part of dam, the results of total lead concentration ranges between  (24.2-11.35) mg.kg-1 and the higher value has been found in the first depth (0-20cm)cm for pedon A at the lower part of dam  and the lower value has been found in the third depth (60-50cm) for  pedonD in the upper part of dam ,  while the total concentration for  iron (Fe) which  ranges between (4595-2988) mg.kg-1 the higher value has been found in the second depth (20-50cm) for pedon A at the lower part of dam  and the lower value has been found in the seventh depth (111-93cm) for  the same pedon .As compared with critical limits , results show that total concentration of heavy metals  for Cd, Pb, Zn and Ni in Sediments samples all has exceed the critical limits values  except in some depths. The results for the available heavy metal concentrations show that the available nickel concentration ranges between(33.2-107.4)mg.kg-1 and the higher value has been found in the second   depth (20-35)cm for pedon A at the lower part of dam  and the lower value has been found in the second  depth (30-50) for  pedonD in the upper part of dam,while total cadmium concentration ranges between (0.21-0.48)mg.kg-1and the higher value has been found in the first depth (0-20)cm for pedon B at the lower part of dam  and the lower value has been found in the sixth depth (73-93cm)for the pedon A at the lower part of dam ,  the values for the available Zinc concentration ranges between  (56-111) mg.kg-1 and the higher value has been found in the tenth depth (191-231)cm for pedon A at the lower part of dam  and the lower value has been found in the last depth (120-100cm) for  pedonD in the upper part of dam, the results of available  lead (pb) concentration ranges between  (6.7-20.2) mg.kg-1 and the higher value has been found in the first depth (0-20cm)cm for pedon A at the lower part of dam  and the lower value has been found in the third depth (60-50cm) for  pedonD in the upper part of dam ,  while the available concentration for  iron (Fe) which  ranges between (39-74)mg.kg-1 the higher value has been found in the second depth (20-50cm) for pedon A at the lower part of dam  and the lower value has been found in the eighth  depth(111-126) for  the same pedon,at the comparison of results for the available concentrations of the studied heavy metals it can be seenthat all values have exceeded the critical limits values  according to Nunes etal 2014. in the other hand the results show that there is significant correlation between the total and available concentration for same heavy metalspairs of the correlation  (r2) between the available and total  concentration  was 0.90 ,  0.74 , 0.99, 0.99 and 0.58 for Ni , Cd , Zn , Pb  and Fe respectively , in the other hand, the results show that the water concentration for heavy  metals are 1.7 , 0.03  ,15 , 0.07 and  27 mg.l-1for Ni , Cd , Zn , Pb  and Fe respectively , which indicate that all   values  have  exceeded the  critical limits according to  Iraqi standards and  FAW.