The role of morphological -climatic processes in shaping land features in the Wadi Shakhat basin in the west of Karbala

Abstract

The study area is represented by the Wadi Al-Shakhat basin, in the western Iraqi desert within Karbala Governorate, and is located between latitude (-10 °32 - -45 °32) north, and longitude (-15 °43 --45 °43) east, and is considered part of the discontinuous edges area of ​​the plateau, and is naturally defined from the north by Lake Al-Razzazah, and from the south by the Wadi Al-Abyad basin and Qasr Al-Akhdir, while from the east it is defined by Wadi Al-Abyad and Talul Al-Tar and is also defined by the western coast of Lake Al-Razzazah, while from the west it is defined by Wadi Fouad, Ain Al-Tamr (Shathatha), Talul Al-Maleh and Talul Al-Falj, and the area of ​​the basin is (136.82) km2.  The study aims to identify the natural factors (geological, topographic and climatic), and their impact on the nature of the morphoclimatic processes and their role in the formation of landforms. GIS technology was used to create a digital database, based on ((DEM and the program (8Arc GIS 10.), and the satellite image of the satellite (Land Sat 8) for the year 2024, with a resolution of (30*30) m. A set of topographic and geological maps were also used, in addition to the field study, in order to extract a geomorphological map representing the shapes resulting from the morphoclimatic processes. In the study area, the morphoclimatic processes represented by the processes of (physical and chemical weathering, water and wind erosion, and water and wind sedimentation) were identified, as the physical weathering process was more prominent, widespread and more severe than chemical weathering due to high temperatures and low rainfall. Also, the erosion processes using Fournier equations to calculate rain erosion placed the area within the scope of  (Weak erosion), and the calculation of the (Ghepil) equation for wind erosion placed the area within the range of (very high erosion), and this is due to the lack of vegetation cover, low rainfall, high temperatures and wind speeds in the area, in addition to the nature of the geological formations, as well as the processes of water and wind sedimentation. Through morpho-climatic processes, many landforms emerged, including (rock flaking and granular fragmentation, dissolution pits and cavities, vessel pits and cliffs, beds, valley bottom sediments and pediments), and the forms resulting from water erosion and water sedimentation are the most widespread in the study area