Download or read book Soil Capping Research in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region written by Lee Barbour and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Soil Constraints and Productivity written by Nanthi Bolan and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2023-05-29 with total page 635 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Identifying, interpreting, and managing soil constraints are major challenges, especially when multiple constraints occur in the same soil at various depth zones. Although amelioration tools and strategies are available to manage some of these constraints, field adoption of these technologies is a major challenge to the farming community. Soil Constraints and Productivity helps in identifying and understanding soil constraints, focusing on management practices to alleviate problems associated with these restrictions, and their impacts on crop productivity. Soil Constraints and Productivity aims to: Describe various strategies suitable for mitigating soil constraints Provide data on cost-benefit analysis of managing soil constraints Provide case studies of managing soil constraints to increase productivity Soil is essential for the doubling of major grain production proposed to be necessary to avoid major food security collapses in the future. This book will be a key resource for soil and environmental scientists, farmers, students majoring in agricultural and environmental sciences, and crop consultants.

Download or read book Quantifying the Influence of Soil Prescriptions on Ecosystem Processes in Reclaimed Forests of Varying Age in a Post Oil Sands Landscape in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region Alberta Canada written by Tyler Matthew Prentice and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR) in northern Alberta, Canada contains ~4800 km2 available for surface mining, and as of 2017 ~767 km2 had been disturbed for oil sands operations. The Alberta government requires this land to be reclaimed back to an equivalent capacity following the closure of mining operations. This includes the reclamation of upland forests, which serve vital ecosystem functions to the region. These functions are influenced by the cover soils used while reclaiming these ecosystems as they are designed to provide sufficient water and nutrients for the vegetation being planted. There are two different cover soils typically used in reclamation, peat mineral mix (PMM) and forest floor material (FFM), while there have been studies examining the differences between them some of the results are inconsistent. This research aims to further the understanding of how differences in cover soils used can influence the moisture and nutrient regimes of reclaimed forests, and how these processes change as vegetation develops. Seven sites in the AOSR that varied in age, cover soil, and vegetation prescription were used for this study. Differences in soil physical properties were assessed and compared to changes in volumetric water content throughout the growing season to assess their impact on water regimes. Once the relationship between soil physical properties and water regimes were established the nutrient regimes of the sites were assessed through the in situ buried bag method. Similarly, to volumetric water content, nutrient mineralization rates were compared to soil physical properties to assess their impact on the nutrient regimes of the sites. Once the relationship between soil prescription and the water and nutrient regimes were established, how vegetation development can impact these processes could be determined. Soil texture was found to be the dominant driver of water regimes at reclaimed sites, having a greater influence than topographical variables. This led to some sites being re-vegetated incorrectly, which can lead to increased time for vegetation to become established and a potentially longer period before sites can become certified. Furthermore, the type of cover soil and mineral layer used were found to influence soil water regimes, with prescriptions using FFM having higher infiltration rates then PMM, while fine tailings sand mineral layers were more likely to result in water limited systems than overburden material. In contrast the impact soil prescriptions used in reclamation had on nutrient regimes was much smaller then hypothesized. The lack of differences observed between FFM and PMM suggests that five years post-revegetation any initial benefits to the nutrient regimes of the soil will no longer be present. The only parameter that seemed to influence nutrient mineralization rates was silt content, where sites with a higher silt content typically had a slight increase in N, NH4+, and NO3- mineralization. In contrast, litter mineralization rates followed a similar trend to what would typically be observed in natural boreal forests, with broadleaf sites having higher P mineralization rates while NH4+ and N were unrelated to vegetation type. These findings suggested that while soil physical properties have a significant influence on the water regimes of reclaimed sites, they have little impact on nutrient regimes five years post-revegetation. Instead vegetation inputs are the dominant control on nutrient availability. However, soil water regimes drive what vegetation can become established on reclaimed sites. Therefore, when attempting to predict the nutrient regimes of a site it is important to consider the impact soil properties will have on water regimes and how that may impact vegetation colonization, which will ultimately govern the nutrient mineralization rates.

Download or read book Metal Concentration in Plants and Soils in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region written by G. L. Lesko and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Spoil to Soil Mine Site Rehabilitation and Revegetation written by N.S. Bolan and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2017-09-06 with total page 518 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spoil to Soil: Mine Site Rehabilitation and Revegetation presents both fundamental and practical aspects of remediation and revegetation of mine sites. Through three major themes, it examines characterization of mine site spoils; remediation of chemical, physical and biological constraints of mine site spoils, including post mine-site land-use practices; and revegetation of remediated mine site spoils. Each theme includes chapters featuring case studies involving mine sites around the world. The final section focuses specifically on case studies with successful mine site rehabilitation. The book provides a narrative of how inert spoil can be converted to live soil. Instructive illustrations show mine sites before and after rehabilitation. The purpose of this book is to provide students, scientists, and professional personnel in the mining industry sensible, science-based information needed to rehabilitate sustainably areas disturbed by mining activities. This book is suitable for undergraduate and graduate students majoring in environmental, earth, and soil sciences; environmental and soil scientists; and mine site environmental engineers and regulators.

Download or read book Earth Resources written by and published by . This book was released on 1982 with total page 824 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Hydrology of a Constructed Fen Watershed in a Post mined Landscape in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region Alberta Canada written by Scott James Ketcheson and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Peatlands (i.e., wetlands with organic soil) cover approximately 12% of Canada's total land area, 18% of Alberta's land base and nearly half of the landscape in Canada's Western Boreal Plain. Some of these peatlands overlay vast fossil fuel resources. Mounting pressure from resource extraction industries is impacting an increasing proportion of peatland ecosystems in Canada. In Alberta, approximately 4800 km2 of the Athabasca Oil Sands Region near Fort McMurray has been deemed suitable for surface mining, which involves the removal of large expanses of undisturbed peatlands to access the oil sands beneath. The concept of peatland creation has been adapted into the Canadian regulatory framework and fen peatlands have now been constructed in post-mined oil sands landscapes. However, there is little information with respect to the nature of the hydrological processes that operate within constructed fen ecosystems and their associated watersheds and this concept is only now being tested in the field. Oil sands reclamation requires the reconstruction of entire landforms and drainage systems. The hydrological regime of reclaimed landscapes will be a manifestation of the processes operating within the individual landforms that comprise it. Hydrology is the most important process regulating wetland function and development, as it exhibits a strong control on the chemical and biotic processes operating in peatlands. Accordingly, this research aims to tackle the growing and immediate need to understand the hydrological processes that operate within reconstructed landscapes. The approach is to couple the controls on water distribution, storage and release within several reclaimed landforms (reclaimed slopes, tailings sand upland aquifer and fen peatland) to the function of a constructed fen watershed (the Nikanotee Fen watershed). A comparison of two constructed fen ecosystems with fundamentally different conceptual approaches provides the framework for examination of the key challenges and opportunities associated with fen creation in an oil sands reclamation setting. Although the focus of this work is on the hydrological processes, issues related to both water quantity and quality are identified as major challenges for fen creation. An adaptive approach to fen creation is recommended, in which the knowledge developed in concurrent research should be assimilated with the available longer-term information. The multi-faceted complexities associated with the ability to deem fen creation projects a success within the context of oil sands reclamation are also explored. The suggestion from this discourse was that success should be measured by the ability to design and construct systems that exhibit predictable and desirable characteristics. The distribution, ablation and fate of snowmelt waters were quantified for the constructed watershed, which addresses a lack of understanding of snowmelt dynamics within reclaimed landscapes. Results indicated that the snowmelt period hydrology within recently constructed landscapes is fundamentally different from that reported for natural settings. Reclaimed slopes represented large stores of over-winter precipitation and generated substantial surface runoff during the snowmelt period. This research demonstrates that snow dynamics must be incorporated into the design of landscape-scale constructed ecosystems. The dominant controls on the soil water regimes and runoff generation mechanisms on two reclaimed slopes (reclaimed five years apart) within the Nikanotee Fen watershed were also investigated during the snow-free period. The contrasting hydrological regime exhibited by these slopes suggests that changes in the hydrophysical properties of reclamation materials following construction could result in a shift in the hydrological role of reclaimed slopes at the watershed scale. It appears that, over time, recently reclaimed slopes should produce less overland flow and shift from water conveyors to water storage features in constructed watershed systems. Finally, the water fluxes within the Nikanotee Fen - upland system were evaluated for the first two years following construction (2013 - 2014). The hydrological performance of the constructed system was assessed and discussed within the context of the construction-level design. It was determined that the system design was capable of sustaining wet conditions within the Nikanotee Fen during the snow-free period in 2013 and 2014, with persistent ponded water in some areas. Evapotranspiration dominated the water fluxes from the system. These losses were partially offset by groundwater discharge from the upland aquifer, which demonstrated strong hydrologic connectivity with the fen in spite of most construction materials having lower than targeted saturated hydraulic conductivities. However, the variable surface infiltration rates and thick placement of a soil-capping layer constrained recharge to the upland aquifer, which remained below designed water contents in much of the upland. These studies comprise one of the most comprehensive hydrological evaluations of a constructed fen peatland watershed to date. The findings of this research indicate that it is possible to engineer the post-mining landscape to accommodate the hydrological functions of a fen peatland. Several recommendations are made to help guide the construction of future fen peatlands, which should be done at the commercial-scale. Research priorities include understanding the storage and release of water within coarse-grained reclaimed landforms as well as evaluating the relative importance of external water sources and internal water conservation mechanisms for the viability of fen ecosystems over the longer-term. The novel, catchment-scale approach to reclamation research presented within this thesis provides an integrated understanding of the hydrological functioning of constructed watersheds, and a similar approach is recommended for future research in reclaimed landscapes.

Download or read book Native Shrub Research for Oil Sands Reclamation written by A. W. Fedkenheuer and published by . This book was released on 1979 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discusses progress of research program initiated in 1977 to study propagation and performance of container grown native shrubs for reclamation purposes in Athabasca Oil Sands region of northern Alberta. Paper presented at Range Management Society Meeting held in Casper, Wyoming, February 11-15, 1979.

Download or read book Literature on the Revegetation of Coal mined Lands written by David L. Veith and published by . This book was released on 1985 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Hydrogeochemical Soil Dynamics Relative to Topography for Forested Land Units Undergoing Reclamation in a Post mined Landscape in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region Alberta written by Tristan Gingras-Hill and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 87 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Natural forest soils of the Western Boreal Forest rarely witness near-surface soil flushing events during the growing season due to the forest's excessive evapotranspiration demands and large unsaturated zone storage capacity. This leads to the accumulation of nutrients such as Soluble Reactive Phosphorus (SRP) and Total Inorganic Nitrogen (TIN) within the surface soils, increasing along a low-relief moisture gradient transitioning through upland forests, riparian zones and wetlands, influencing vegetation communities. In the post-mined landscape, decompressed overburden produce topographically elevated hillslopes with cover soils exhibiting poor transmissivity and hydrophobic properties, which are often subject to erosion. Reclamation projects are beginning to develop entire watersheds consisting of engineered wetlands, uplands and hillslopes, varying in elevation, to ensure a hydrologic connectivity that can support resiliency to moisture deficit during periodic stresses. To avoid undesirable interactions between land units, it is important to understand their hydrogeochemical connectivity. This study focuses on the interactions between a recently (i.e. three years) reclaimed low-relief upland and three encompassing hillslopes (aged five to nine-years since reclamation), located within a constructed fen watershed. The objectives were to determine if topographically driven moisture-nutrient gradients were being formed and how this would influence vegetation colonization. No topographically driven moisture-nutrient gradient was detected within the lower-lying constructed upland, attributed to the heterogeneity of the cover soil placement and the lack of preferential flow paths, typically witnessed in newly reclaimed soils. Furthermore, the application of control release fertilizer likely hindered the detection of any topographic influence on ion mobility. Runoffs collectors suggest that fertilizer may lead to off-site movement immediately following application. Results also demonstrated that SRP is likely in excess within this system and susceptible to leaching following overland flow events. However, TIN is potentially a limiting nutrient and while immobilized at the surface, demonstrated greater susceptibility towards vertical flow, especially when groundwater recharge promoting structures are incorporated within the construction of forested land units. Sapling survival within the constructed upland appeared to be influenced by moisture stress over nutrient availability, re-examining the need for fertilizer application when reclaimed soils still lack moisture absorbing properties. The elevated hillslopes also did not demonstrate any topographically driven moisture-nutrient gradient regardless of age since reclamation. The more mature hillslope was expected to demonstrate such a gradient, however the dry growing season likely hindered subsurface interflow downslope. The two younger hillslopes still demonstrated poor transmissivity attributed to their immaturity. TIN contributions towards the constructed upland proved to be minimal, however phosphorus inputs from erosion prone areas are likely to influence SRP availability following phosphate desorption processes within the constructed upland. Although our system demonstrated positive correlations of increased SRP on native species establishment, TIN availability demonstrated increased forb and non-native species colonization. This study demonstrates how current forested upland reclamation practices might influence other land units when re-initiating hydrogeochemical connectivity throughout engineered landscapes. This study also demonstrates how contributions from topographically elevated land units might impact vegetation communities downslope, which is crucial for re-establishing the resiliency of the landscape. Current forest upland and hillslope reclamation practices will likely need to be re-evaluated when considering landscape scale hydrogeochemical connectivity.

Download or read book Restoration and Reclamation of Boreal Ecosystems written by Dale Vitt and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-09-20 with total page 427 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Boreal ecosystems contain one-third of the world's forests and stored carbon, but these regions are under increasing threat from both natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Written by leaders from the forefront of private, public and academic sectors, Restoration and Reclamation of Boreal Ecosystems emphasises a broad, conceptual approach to the specific application of empirical research into development planning, restoration and modelling of these ecosystems. The importance of this is highlighted at a time of global climate change, as these ecosystems act as carbon sinks. There is a focus on the reclamation of exploited ecosystems from a holistic standpoint, ranging from environmental and edaphic variables to the restoration of keystone flora. Recent advances in quantification of ecosystem services, such as habitat suitability and carbon storage modelling, are also detailed. The book contains case-studies which address how both historical and novel assemblages can provide ecosystem stability under projected climatic and land-use scenarios.

Download or read book Alberta s Lower Athabasca Basin written by Brian M. Ronaghan and published by Athabasca University Press. This book was released on 2017-05-24 with total page 565 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the past two decades, the oil sands region of northeastern Alberta has been the site of unprecedented levels of development. Alberta's Lower Athabasca Basin tells a fascinating story of how a catastrophic ice age flood left behind a unique landscape in the Lower Athabasca Basin, one that made deposits of bitumen available for surface mining. Less well known is the discovery that this flood also produced an environment that supported perhaps the most intensive use of boreal forest resources by prehistoric Native people yet recognized in Canada. Studies undertaken to meet the conservation requirements of the Alberta Historical Resources Act have yielded a rich and varied record of prehistoric habitation and activity in the oil sands area. Evidence from between 9,500 and 5,000 years ago—the result of several major excavations—has confirmed extensive human use of the region’s resources, while important contextual information provided by key geological and palaeoenvironmental studies has deepened our understanding of how the region’s early inhabitants interacted with the landscape. Touching on various elements of this rich environmental and archaeological record, the contributors to this volume use the evidence gained through research and compliance studies to offer new insights into human and natural history. They also examine the challenges of managing this irreplaceable heritage resource in the face of ongoing development. Contributors: Alwynne Beaudoin, Angela Younie, Brian O.K. Reeves, Duane Froese, Elizabeth Roberston, Eugene Gryba, Gloria Fedirchuk, Grant Clarke, John W. Ives, Janet Blakey, Jennifer Tischer, Jim Burns, Laura Roskowski, Luc Bouchet, Murray Lobb, Nancy Saxberg, Raymond LeBlanc, Robert R. Young, Robin Woywitka, Thomas V. Lowell, and Timothy Fisher

Download or read book Information Circular written by and published by . This book was released on with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Evaluation of four reports on contamination of the Athabasca River system by oil sands operations written by and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: They also measured these contaminants in the water of the Athabasca River and its tributaries in the oil sands area, and in Lake Athabasca and the Athabasca Delta. [...] Approximately 17% of the estimated established bitumen reserves in the Athabasca oil sands region were under active development as of the end of 2008, and 3% of the estimated established bitumen reserves of the Athabasca oil sands region has been extracted by the end of 2008. [...] The rapid expansion of oil sands development in the last 20 years led to the establishment of many research and monitoring organizations and programs to collect data on water and air quality in the oil sands area. [...] David Schindler of the University of Alberta conducted studies which led to the publication of two articles in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. [...] The purpose of their research was to determine the relative contribution of industrial activities to the input of PACs compared with the natural inputs of these compounds from the naturally occurring bitumen.

Download or read book Characterizing Controls on Plot scale Evapotranspiration and Soil Water Dynamics of a Constructed Fen in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region Alberta written by Sarah Scarlett and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 59 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the Athabasca oil sands region of the Western Boreal Plains (WBP) mining companies now recognize the importance of reclaiming peatlands, as they cover > 50% of the pre-mined regional landscape. Open-pit mining operations require the removal of overburden, which is the surficial soil and vegetation overlying the oil-bearing formation. As a result, mining processes leave an unnatural, undulating landscape, which promotes the establishment of ecosystems non-native to the region. To date, oil sands wetland reclamation efforts have focused on marsh and open water wetlands. However, these wetland systems are not abundant in the sub-humid climate of the WBP due to high evaporative demand from free water surfaces. Despite their abundance on the landscape, the re-establishment of peatland ecosystems had not been previously tested due to their complexity and long successional development. However, the importance of these ecosystems was recognized by Alberta's Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act (EPEA), which mandated mining companies to test peatland reclamation. As a result Suncor's Nikanotee Fen, an experimental fen and watershed constructed as part of the landscape reclamation, was completed in 2013 and engineered with the intent to support natural fen vegetation and hydrologic processes. During the initial years post-construction, the influence of the experimental planting design on the fen's hydrology is unknown. Therefore, plot-scale evapotranspiration (ET) and soil water dynamics were monitored at various mulched and unmulched vegetation plots (control, moss, seedlings; n = 31) across the fen, including ponds. Treatments types were found to influence available energy and thus ET, with highest rates over open water (4.4 mm/day) and lowest rates over moss-mulch plots (2.4 mm/day). Mulch reduced ET by lowering the vapour pressure deficit within the mulch layer, thus providing a favorable microclimate for moss establishment by elevating near-surface relative humidity and reducing air and soil temperatures by ~2°C. Plot-scale ET trends followed ponds (331 mm) > seedlings (294 mm) > seedling-mulch (273 mm) > control (246 mm) > moss (212 mm) > moss-mulch (179 mm), where cumulative seasonal ET exceeded cumulative precipitation (132 mm) in all plots. While plot type was found to influence ET losses, it did not show a significant control on soil water dynamics in this study. While there were slight water deficits (P-ET) and lower soil moisture contents in mulched plots, probably caused by precipitation interception, the specific effects of mulch on plot soil water dynamics are difficult to elucidate due to significant differences in plot water table levels (p 0.05). Water table variability was directly related to surface elevation, which differed between plots by ~ 24 cm. Despite a relatively small range in elevations, plot water table positions varied 20 cm bgs, where plots located at higher elevations had consistently lower and more variable water tables. Furthermore, the salvage and placement methods of the peat created highly heterogeneous peat properties across the fen, which significantly differed with location across the fen (p

Download or read book Cold Region Atmospheric and Hydrologic Studies The Mackenzie GEWEX Experience written by Ming-ko Woo and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2007-12-16 with total page 514 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents decade-long advances in atmospheric research in the Mackenzie River Basin in northern Canada, which encompasses environments representative of most cold areas on Earth. Collaborative efforts have yielded knowledge entirely transferable to other high latitude regions in America, Europe and Asia. This book complements the first volume coming from the GEWEX project, dealing with the region's atmospheric dynamics.

Download or read book Water Quality of the Athabasca Oil Sands Area a Regional Study written by Canada-Alberta. Alberta Oil Sands Environmental Research Program and published by . This book was released on 1985 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: