Lower Euphrates and Tigris Marshes - Term Paper Example

NAME: STUDENT NUMBER: COURSE NAME: TOPIC: AN IN-DEPTH STUDY OF THE LOWER EUPHRATES AND TIGRES MARSHES INSTRUCTOR: INSTITUTION: DATE: INTRODUCTION The lower Euphrates and Tigris marshes, commonly known as the Mesopotamian marshlands, are one of the greatest wetlands in the world and are undisputedly the largest such ecosystem in the whole of southwest Asia. The marshlands are part of a key international river system, the Tigris and Euphrates, which is the largest river system in southwest Asia and is considered to be one of the great cradles of civilisation. In their lower courses, the Mesopotamian Marshlands consisted of an intricate web of inter- connected marshes, shallow freshwater lakes and seasonally inundated floodplains spanning an area of, until recently, 15, 000 km2 (Partow, 2001). Within this complex, the following are the largest: The largest within this complex are: The Haur al Hammar (which is located south of the Euphrates and covers an area of 3, 500 km) together with its corresponding marshes: The Central Marshes (which is located west of the Tigris and north of the Euphrates, covering an area of 3000 km2) comprising of marshes and a vast complex of permanent lakes: The Haur Al Hawizeh (which extends east from the Tigris into neighbouring Iran ultimately draining south eastwards into the Gulf through the Shatt al Arab waterway covering an area of 2200 km2) and the corresponding (International Mire Conservation Group, 2004). SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MARSHES Evidently, the marshlands are of great importance, not just to the general area they are a part of, but to the international ecosystem as a whole. The marshlands of Mesopotamia are important for several reasons. Historical and culturally, they represent the exact location of the development of ancient Babylonian and Sumerian civilisations. Indeed, it is within the marshlands that the Sumerian myth of creation is said to have occurred and even in the creation story found in the Bible, it is believed to be the original setting of the site of the Garden of Eden. As such, the marshlands are of profound symbolical significance as being the inspiration and blueprint of future world civilisations. In addition, despite the fact that the marshlands are inaccessible and remote, they were the motherland of approximately 250,000 - 500,000 Marsh Arabs who are largely thought by most anthropologists to be the living link between ancient Mesopotamia and modern Iraq. Therefore, the historical significance of the marshlands can by no means be downplayed as it is a unique cultural and human community. In terms of their economic significance, the marshes were hugely important as a major instrument of agricultural production within southern Iraq especially with regards to rice production. Furthermore, 60% of Iraq's freshwater fish catch (a major source of protein in the area), came from the marshes thereby representing a major source of sustenance to the areas population. To top this off, the reeds found within the system were crucial for construction purposes as they were the major raw material used in building the mudhif guest-houses characteristic in that epoch as well as in paper production and mat weaving. Their importance to the environment was likewise significant as the marshlands were the largest wetland ecosystem in Western Eurasia and the Middle East. Consequently, they were key in conserving the ecosystem as they were part of an arid environment and provided an oasis of sorts to the surrounding dry area. The marshlands were very important particularly in filtering sediments and biodegrading nutrients and this has important implications on the sea water quality of downstream states such as Kuwait and the northern Persian Gulf. A HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF THE GEOMORPHIC EVOLUTION OF THE LOWER EUPHRATES TIGRIS MARSHES The present day marshlands are a far cry from what they were in ancient times. Centuries of geomorphic processes as well as human activities have inevitably transformed the marshlands and these processes are not a recent phenomenon. On the contrary, they can historically be traced to the mid- Holocene highstand period. There are several opinions and theories as to how exactly the transformation occurred therefore the following discussion will focus on determining how exactly the transformation took place over the centuries by giving a brief overview of major land- shaping events that took place in the marshlands. In the last 10,000 years, there were fluctuations in the climate, sedimentation rates and the sea level as well as the neotectonic activity during the geological evolution of the Tigris–Euphrates delta that caused the deposition of a range of sedimentary units. These are the main factors that contributed to the geomorphological evolution of the marshlands. In the early Holocene, following a long period of the Pleistocene’s wetter conditions, arid climate dominated the marshlands. This climate change caused worldwide sea levels to drop to 130 m. This coincided with the most recent glaciation that ended approximately 12,000 years ago. This sea level drop left the bed of the Persian Gulf very high above sea level during the glacial maximum thereby creating a new base level for the Tigris Euphrates. With such low sea levels, the Tigris-Euphrates River streamed through a broad and flat marshy terrain. The Tigris-Euphrates flowed to the Strait of Hormuz through the marshes of this proto-Shatt-al-Arab and into the Arabian Sea. As the river flowed, erosion processes on the basin led to the formation of various landforms such as gulleys and meanders. These processes continued such that, by, 15,000 BC, the Persian Gulf was an entirely dry basin. In addition to the large scale flooding that occurred at the Persian Gulf, there has also been relatively current local flooding in this marshlands area. For instance, excavations in Iraq provide proof of a flood at Shuruppak at approximately 2900-2750 BC that stretched to as far as the city of Kish. King Etana, the then King of Kish, allegedly founded the very first Sumerian dynasty following this flooding. This area is also alleged to be the site of the Biblical Noah’s Flood and one Sir C. Leonard Woolley, during his famous excavations in the 1920’s, discovered a homogeneous silty loam stratum (that was more than 2.5 m thick but was without any artefacts) at Ur south of Uruk in the 1920s. Such a discovery is important in uncovering the geomorphological processes that may have taken place at the time and also points to the historical significance of the marshlands. Further to this, after the post-glacial era, the sea-level then rose again and caused the creation and inundation of the Arabo-Persian Gulf (Kennett and Kennett, 2006), In the Middle Holocene, the marine transgression slowed leading to the formation of rich aquatic coastal and habitats in southern Mesopotamia. Consequently, the ‘Ubaid Period communities came into being as the habitats provided great conditions for settlement as well as enabling the relatively easy movement of people, goods and ideas in the entire the region. In addition, the existing high water tables encouraged the early experimentation of the inhabitants with irrigation agriculture. Gradually, these sytems expanded and so did the populations. Inevitably, the human activities such as agriculture led to the transformation of the marshlands. Thereafter, the humid conditions of the Early Holocene led to the transformation of the hitherto wet area into an arid one. The climatic and eustatic changes together led to the emergence of extremely centralized and urban-based states which in turn so further transformations of the marshlands. Then, 6000 years ago, there was a steady fall in sea level that left Sumerian cities like Ur abandoned and isolated as the sea retreated leading to the development of present- day marshes on the old sea bed. There was then as increase in sedimentation due to the greater use of irrigated agriculture in the flood plains. This led to infill downstream further transforming the topography and appearance marshlands area. (Kennett and Kennett, 2006). From 7000 to 1000 yr B.P, the marshlands continued to evolve due to avulsion. Ancient settlements are closely associated with abandoned courses of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers and there were interactions between channel-network evolution and human activity that further transformed the marshlands. Settlement distribution in ancient Mesopotamia can be re- traced through the use of avulsion belts that show the specific areas where urban settlements sprang up. The settlements evidently led to the formation of large, naturally irrigated areas that allowed the well-organized agriculture characteristic of the marshlands at the time and that was required to maintain the crowded urban and rural settlements. The channel networks were however later abandoned as a result of delta evolution hence large scale canal construction was necessary so as to sustain the dense settlements. This led to the further transformation of the marshlands (Morozova, 2005) Thereafter, at around 4000 years ago and after approximately 2000 years of maximum flooding that has come to be known as the high stand period, there was a deposition of a regressive tidal flat unit thereby bringing to a close the marine/brackish-water deposition that was characteristic of the time. This signalled yet another climatic change and led to the formation of a more arid setting. It is these same climatic conditions that are still characteristic of the area until this very day and are reflective of the petrology of the contemporary salt-covered fluvial plain deposits of these rivers. Nevertheless, the environments and marsh deposits remained. Therefore, differential sedimentation rates, climatic changes during Holocene as well as the sea-level fluctuations led to the formation and preservation of the unique marshlands of the Lower Euphrates and Tigris (Aqrawi, 2001. TWENTIETH CETURY HISTORY OF THE MARSHES Undoubtedly, the marshlands of the Lower Euphrates and Tigris are crucial for the survival of the areas inhabitants as well as for the regions environment. Unfortunately, despite their grave importance, the marshlands have been in great decline especially since the twentieth century. These marshlands originally covered around 15,000 to 20,000 square kilometres of land yet between 1973 and 2000, this figure reduced drastically to a paltry 1,084 square kilometres (UNEP). In addition, a further 325 square kilometres dried up in a mere tow year span from 2000 to 2002. According to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), “unless urgent action is taken to reverse the trend and re-habilitate the marshlands, the entire wetland known as the Hawr Al-Hawizeh in Iraq and Hawr Al-Azim in Iran, are likely to have gone in three to five years.” (UN News Centre, 2009). This is cause for alarm and should be curbed urgently. However, to curb its further decline, it’s important to understand the causes and genesis of its decline so as to prevent the same from happening in the future. Modern agricultural schemes and associated water works resulted in wide-ranging ecological transformations in the marshlands. These transformations have been highly destructive and inconveniencing. The most destructive of these water works has undoubtedly been the construction of dams. The drying up of the marshlands can be traced to the 1950’s where the widespread damming of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers began in earnest. This damming was undertaken by Turkey and Syria for irrigation purposes due to the poor precipitation in the area relative to the food security needs of both states. Over 30 dams have been constructed following the 1950’s causing the fragmentation of both rivers into several divisions. In total, the storage capacity of all the dams is much greater than the capacity of both rivers leading to a considerable reduction in the amounts of water that reach the downstream ecosystems. This consequently has ended the supply of floodwaters that had hitherto sustained the marshlands and has adversely affected its survival in the process (UN News Centre, 2009). In addition to this damming, the early 1990’s period after the Gulf War saw the widespread draining of the marshlands by the Iraqi government together with construction of an extensive system of dikes and canals whose purpose was to divert the rivers’ waters. The drainage was initiated by then president and Dictator Saddam Hussein in a bid to force the Madan, who had played an integral part in the rebellion his regime, out of the marshes. In 1991 Saddam Hussein who is a Sunni Muslim constructed a network of dams and earthen walls so as to desiccate the marshes for political reasons since the region had been a source of refuge for the Shiite rebels from who had fought against him during the uprising that happened following the Gulf War rand even previously during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. By 2003 following Saddam’s deposition the marshes were only 90 percent of their former size (Circle of Blue- Water News, 2009). This initiative was highly political in nature and thus was hard to tame. The marshlands dried up during this period and were resultantly transformed into a barren and salty desert totally unlike its previous state. In fact, out of all possible causes, it is this drainage initiative that is largely viewed as being responsible for the devastation of a majority of the marshlands. There only remain about 7 per cent of the marshes left and these too are fast drying up because of various upstream water projects like irrigation projects where the river waters are being diverted and the construction of new dams like the massive huge dam being built by Iran (El-Awady, 2003). THE PRESENT SITUATION, FUTURE PROSPECTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS According to UNEP, approximately 85 per cent of the Mesopotamian marshlands have been desiccated largely due to damming and drainage (UN News Centre, 2009). Further to that, the Mesopotamian marshlands only cover 7 per cent of their former area as a result of widespread mismanagement and the speed and sheer scale their desiccation has caused global alarm and concern. There has been broad consensus that the marshlands are too important to be allowed to disappear and thus as agreement that only coordinated and sustained measures will cause the recovery of the marshlands. However, such a broad consensus is futile if clear measures are not stipulated as to how exactly the recovery should be undertaken. According to the Executive Director of the United Nations Environmental Program, Klaus Toepfer, an evaluation is required to address all of the related issues that can negatively affect the. These measures include an urgent release of water from reservoir dams in Iraq and Iran to replicate the seasonal flood. (UN News Centre, 2009) In addition, the UNEP has asked Iraq and neighbouring countries to share the rivers’ waters in an equitable and coordinated way to allow enough water to the wetlands and at the same time releasing the water from existing dams to replicate natural flow patterns and revive the marshlands. According to El-Awady (2003), one such measure that needs to be put in place is to broaden the area recovered by achieving efficiencies in irrigation upstream. This will be important since the average Iraqi farmer still uses technology of the Sumerian era. As a result, modernization of irrigation technologies is of great necessity. The Iraqi government needs to put measures in place whereby irrigation equipment is upgraded to fit the times so as to save scarce water and also to decrease the salinization problem that plagues the nation’s water resources. One modern type of irrigation is spray irrigation which will go a long way in not only saving the water but will also help lessen the finances essential in reclaiming the marshlands (El-Awady (2003). Another measure that was recommended by the UNEP Iraqi Marshlands Project Phase III is to improve the water quality by looking into the viability of the use of constructed wetlands along the Main Outfall Drain (MOD) and thereby restoring the wetlands. Water quality can also be improved by diverting the sewage of the Euphrates area to the MOD. Nevertheless, reclaiming the marshlands will not be a simple process. In order for it to succeed, the right quality and amount of water needs to be used together with adequate timing. Some of the marsh areas are now too acidic or alkaline be recovered since they had been burned continuously. That said, reclamation efforts have begun. One such project is called Eden Again and aims to rehabilitate both the marshlands and Marsh Arab culture. The cost of such a project is estimated to be worth in the billions of dollars but is well worth the cost. (El-Awady, 2003). CONCLUSION The marshes of the Lower Euphrates and Tigris are an important wetland with economic, historical and environmental significances. The long term solution is to reach an amicable agreement with Turkey and Syria on the equitable sharing of the water resources of the basin. If this is accomplished, the marshlands will go back to their original state and serve the people as well as the environment both for the current generation and the future as well. REFERENCES Aqrawi, A.A.M. 2001. Stratigraphic signatures of climatic change during the Holocene Evolution of the Tigris-Euphrates delta, lower Mesopotamia. Global and Planetary Change, 28 (1-2), pp. 267-283. Circle of Blue- Water News. 2009. Drought Strikes ‘Garden Of Eden’ Marshes in Iraq. Accessed on the 7th of August, 2009 from http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2009/world/drought-strikes-garden-of-eden-marshes-in-iraq/ References and further reading may be available for this article. To view references and further reading you must purchase this article. El-Awady, Aisha.2003. Mesopotamian Marshlands: Going Down the Drain? Islam Online. Accessed on the 7th of August, 2009 from http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1157365850107&pagename=Zone-English-HealthScience%2FHSELayout#**1 International Mire Conservation Group. 2004. Iraq (Republic of) Irak. Accessed on the 10th of August, 2009 from http://www.imcg.net/gpd/asia/iraq.pdf Kennett, Douglas J. and Kennett, James P. 2006. Early State Formation in Southern Mesopotamia: Sea Levels, Shorelines, and Climate Change. The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, 1:1, 67 — 99. Accessed on the 10th of August, 2009 from http://pdfserve.informaworld.com/167186__742028035.pdf Partow, H. 2001. The Mesopotamian Marshlands: Demise of an Ecosystem. Early Warning and Assessment Technical Report, UNEP/DEWA/TR.01-3 Rev. 1 Division of Early Warning and Assessment United Nations Environment Programme. Nairobi, Kenya Morozova, Galina S. 2005. A review of Holocene avulsions of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and possible effects on the evolution of civilizations in lower Mesopotamia. Geoarchaeology, 20: 4, 401-423. Wiley Periodicals, Inc: Illinois. Accessed on the 10th of August, 2009 from http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/gea.20057 UN News Centre. 2009. UN report warns that dams are drying out precious Mesopotamian marshlands. Accessed on the 7th of August, 2009 from http://www.un.org/apps/news/storyAr.asp?NewsID=1223&Cr=mesopotamia&Cr1 Read More