Assessment of Salts and Organic Matter of Umm Qasser Soil, Basrah

Abstract

This study was conducted in Umm Qasser, which is located in Al-Zubair district, in Basra. The research focused on studying the soil content of sulfates, chlorides, and organic matter. The research aims to measure the concentrations of salts and organic matter, compare them with standard specifications, and to know whether these concentrations affect the engineering behavior of the soil or not, and chemical tests were carried out for them. The results show that the average of sulfate is 0.55%, gypsum is 4.75%, chloride is 0.35% and organic matter is 4.28%. The study shows that the soil content of chlorides, organic matter, and Gypsum were within the effective limits on engineering behavior of soil except for other forms of sulfates, and the study shows that the fluctuation of the soil content of salts, and organic matter from one site to another, and at different depths is subject to change with time due to its influence by geological and environmental factors at the study area.