An analysis of characteristic discharges for the Adaim River (Iraq) in multiyear period

Abstract

A major River Tigris tributary in Iraq, the Adaim River, has a Mediterranean river flow regime with a total basin area of 12,482 km 2 . The river catchment responds almost immediately to rainfall with apparently minimum storage (i.e. flashy stream). The river daily hydrograph showed a daily peak flow of 1,476 m 3 /s with substantial seasonal and random variability; the flow duration curve followed the two-parameter lognormal probability distribution. Gamma and the two-parameter Weibull probability distributions fitted the monthly mean river discharge for the period 1937-2012 well. Normal and gamma probability distributions were found to appropriately describe the distribution of the annual mean river discharge for the same period. Gumbel extreme value, Log Pearson type III, and the two-parameter lognormal distributions gave a reasonable fit to the annual maximum discharge record for the river. A regression formula was used to fit the annual minimum discharge record, which has a significant number of zero values. There was a positive and significant correlation (r = 0.77) between the annual mean discharge at the measuring site and seasonal rainfall measured at Karkuk meteorological station located in the north central part of the basin. The rainfall record at Karkuk showed a significant decline in seasonal rainfall after 1993. KEYWORDSAdaim River, annual maximum and minimum discharges, flashy streams, flow duration curve, monthly and annual mean discharges

Drainage area estimates for synorogenic clastic wedges in the Central Appalachian Basin (sink) with implications for terrane accretion in the hinterland (source)

“…Modern analogs for the Taconic river systems (Table 2) are tributaries to the Ganges River in northern India and Nepal such as the Beas, Gomati, Gandak and Kosi rivers with drainage areas from 20,203 to 74,500 km 2 and mean discharge values from 234 to 2500 m 3 s −1 (Table 2). Other possible analogs for the Taconic rivers are the Adaim River in Iraq and Iran which is a tributary to the Tigris River with a drainage area of 12,482 km 2 and a mean discharge of 1476 m 3 s −1 (Hussein & Hameed, 2019) and the Zoreh River in western Iran which flows through the Zagros Mountains directly into the Persian Gulf foreland basin and has a drainage area of 17,150 km 2 and a mean discharge of 79 m 3 s −1 (Table 2). All of the above rivers are appropriate analogs for the Taconic fluvial deposits because of the prevailing semi‐arid to monsoonal climatic conditions and their association with active orogenic belts.…”