Some geochemical and mineralogical characteristics of selected soil samples, exhumed from the Urmia Lake deposits by drilling, were studied. The geotechnical investigation at the Urmia Lake bridge site, were conducted from December 2002 to September 2003. Four boreholes were drilled up to 100 meters from the lakebed, and the exhumed soil samples were tested for soil mechanical and geotechnical characteristics. Fifteen core samples from two boreholes were selected and their pore water was squeezed using the pneumatic soil pore water squeeze apparatus. The squeezed pore water samples were analyzed for chloride, sodium, and calcium concentrations, and pH, salinity and electrical conductivity. The Urmia Lake water was sampled and tested for the same parameters. The resulted values from the lake water and boreholes pore water samples were plotted against bore holes depth. The resulted chloride and sodium concentration profiles were almost uniform against soil depth, but the calcium concentrations showed a gradual increase against boreholes depth. The pH, salinity and electrical conductivity values in the pore water samples were almost uniform against boreholes depth. The pore water values in the lake bed deposits were consistent with the lake water values for the same chemical parameters. This is believed to be due to the long term sedimentation and diffusion in a saline environment.

Four soil samples from two boreholes were selected for the complete mineralogical analysis. The samples were analyzed by XRF and XRD methodsthe percentages of the dominated minerals in each soil sample were determined. The Silica mineral (SiO₂) dominated in all soil samples.