16 PASCOE: GEOLOGICAL NOTES ON MESOPOTAMIA. 



in the neighbourhood of the Pleistocene Conglomerate. A large 

 number of the stream-courses in the northern half of the plain, as 

 wnll as those immediately around Sharqat, are " choked " in the 

 way mentioned in a previous report (p. 12), and some of them are 

 being re-cut by the rejuvenescence of the streams. 



New Alluvium. — The new Alluvium needs no comment. It 

 fringes the northern aspect of the city of Asshur, so that the river 

 in Assyrian times probably swept round past the cliffs forming the 

 northern face of the city, where the quay-like structures are to be 

 seen, eastwards past the walls of another city, Sudairat, on its 

 opposite bank, forming an S-shaped bend. The bastion or quay 

 on the west may have bordered a creek or dock running north- 

 wards into the river. 



Structure. 



The anticline forming the range is simple, regular, closely coinci- 

 dent with the physical features, and almost symmetrical, the south- 

 western limb, as in the other folds, being a little steeper than the 

 north-eastern near Humr. The anticlinal crest follows practically 

 the crest of the ridge, and the highest point of the former corresponds 

 closely to the highest point of the latter (1,272 feet above sea-level, 

 see map, pi. 1). North-west of this there is an almost imper- 

 ceptible pitch as far as Sharqat, beyond which the fold was not traced, 

 and south-eastwards a more distinct pitch as far as Qal'at-al-Bint. 

 South-east of the latter locality there is a gentle rise to the centre 

 of the Humr Hills, and a corresponding fall further in the same 

 direction. There are two crest-maxima, therefore, of which the 

 more northerly is the higher. 



Near Sharqat the dip on each side is very gentle, being not more 

 than 10° or 12°. South-eastwards the maximum dip in the south- 

 west limb increases to about 16° while that in the north-east limb, 

 where not concealed by the river, is about the same, omitting local 

 steepenings. Further south-east the general maximum south-west- 

 erly dip is about 15° rising to 20° and 27° locally, and the north- 

 eastern dip about 10° — 11°. 



The Humr Hills end northwards in a scarp which is so straight as 

 to suggest a fault. Some low mounds, also, along its foot have 

 the appearance of red clays belonging to the Kurd series obscured by 

 alluvium. Fortunately a clean exposure of sandstones and clays 

 belonging to this series was found at the mouth of a small stream 



