Hydrogeochemical Aspects Of Tigris And Euphrates Rivers Within Iraq: A Comparative Study

The concentration of major cations and anions and the total dissolved salt in Tigris and Euphrates Rivers were measured .The longer river course beside the extent and the lithological diversity of Euphrates River basin caused the Euphrates water to have relatively higher ionic contents than Tigris waters .The ionic concentrations of both rivers increase down stream. No appreciable changes in ionic concentration in Tigris and Euphrates waters were observed .Nevertheless,Ca+2 and SO4=exhibit sharp change in their concentrations, this is attributed to the geologic, Hydrogeologic and irrigation agents. According to the total hardness, the Euphrates may be divided into two groups ; hard at the upper reaches and very hard at the middle and lower reaches whereas Tigris water is hard.