Bitumen extraction in the Athabasca oil sands causes significant disturbance of landscapes originally rich in wetland and forest ecosystems, which now require reclamation as mandated by the Alberta Government. However, most research to date has focused on upland-forest ecosystems with little attention on wetland-peatland ecosystems, which are considered more challenging to construct due to salinization potential from ubiquitous salts used in the oil sands extraction and treatment processes; with particular focus on elevated Na+ due to its detrimental ecological effects. Syncrude Canada Ltd. (SCL) has constructed an upland-wetland system, the Sandhill Fen Watershed (SFW), to advance the understanding of wetland reclamation in the oil-sands region. The SFW is a highly engineered and managed system. Water is supplied from an artificial fresh water source and drainage is enhanced through a constructed surface outlet and an under-drain system intended to provide a downward hydraulic gradient to inhibit the upward movement of salts from the underlying waste material. The objective of this research is to understand the hydrochemical response of the SFW to variations in hydrological management with respect to sources, flow pathways and major chemical transformations of water as it moves throughout SFW. Through surface and pore water sampling, the electrical conductivity and major ions were measured throughout the growing season of 2013 and 2014. Results indicate that the combination of freshwater inflow, flushing of the system with the outflow pump and open underdrains in 2013 kept the overall salinity within the SFW relatively low, with most lowland sites under 1000 µS/cm. Major ion results indicate that most water throughout the SFW classified as Ca-HCO3 or Ca-SO4 in 2013, with higher concentrations in the uplands however Na+ concentrations did not exceed 250 mg/L at any sampling sites. With minimal management in 2014 and consequent limited freshwater input and flushing of the system, the overall salinity of the SFW increased considerably and EC at most sites in lowlands exceeded 1000 µS/cm. Na+, Ca+2, SO4-2 and HCO3- concentrations increased across the SFW, with higher concentrations in the uplands than the lowlands. Although most sites classified as Ca-SO4, the most notable change in 2014 was the presence of several Na+ “hotspots” along the southern hummocks in the SFW, where water samples classified as Na-SO4 and Na+ concentrations reached as high as 886 mg/L. Results provides evidence of modelled upward movement of Na+ from underlying waste materials and subsequent seepage from hummocks with limited pump management in the SFW. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

No description available.

No description available.

<p>Microorganisms are the most abundant living things on the planet and they drive many important environmental processes. They can do this by coupling reduction – oxidation (redox) reactions. In such reactions, the oxidation of reduced organic matter is coupled with the reduction of another compound, which serves as the electron acceptor. All microbes contain lipids in their cells; phospholipids are the main components of the cell membrane where they make up a consistent component of cell mass. Therefore, in situations where direct cell count is unrealistic, lipid analysis can be used to provide information on microbial communities. Because they hydrolyze shortly after cell death,PLFAs indicate only viable cell biomass, and PLFA analysis provides valuable insight on cell density distribution across a site. One application of PLFA analysis is within this thesis, where it was used to investigate the microbial community at Mildred Lake, Syncrude’s primary tailings settling basin. At Mildred Lake, Syncrude is constructing a freshwater fen over the deposited composite tailings (CT) as part of their reclamation process. Understanding the microbial biogeochemical cycling associated with these reclamation activities is an important component for management decisions affecting the site and thus, inform future reclamation activities.</p> <p>PLFA analysis on samples from the site showed variable concentrations equivalent to estimated cell densities on the order of 107 decreasing to 106 in the CT.These cell density ranges are expected for oligotrophic systems. Phospholipids can also be biomarkers if they are indicative of a specific group of microbes. The study at Mildred Lake identified biomarkers for sulfate reducing bacteria (SRBs). The presence of these biomarkers provided a basis for the hypothesis that sulfide detected at the site was potentially from SRBs.</p> <p>This thesis provides information on the fundamental concepts of lipids and the application of lipid analysis on the environmental samples from the Mildred Lake site to understand its microbial community and cycling of sulfur to prevent potential environmental issues associated with the generation of sulfide.</p> / Master of Science (MSc)

<p>Surface mining of Alberta’s oil sands has led to significant land disturbance, making reclamation and sustainable development of this resource one of the largest challenges facing the industry today. Syncrude Canada Ltd. has developed an innovative technique to reclaim composite tailings (CT) through constructed wetland landscapes and is currently investigating the viability of a pilot-scale freshwater fen built over sandcapped CT. Unpredicted by abiotic geochemical modelling of CT behaviour, a minor episode of hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) gas release was encountered during the initial stages of fen construction indicating microbial activity was likely involved in H₂S generation within CT. This thesis investigates the S geochemistry of CT with depth and employed 454 pyrosequencing and functional enrichments to characterize the associated microbial communities in the first S biogeochemical study of oil sands CT. Porewater H₂S was detected extensively throughout the deposit with background levels ranging from 14 – 23 µM and a maximum of 301.5 µM detected at 22-24 m of depth. Reduced Fe (Fe²⁺) was also detected, but confined within surficial depths sampled, ranging from 1.2 – 38.5 µM. Mass balance calculations identify that the Fe²⁺ generated within the surficial zone of the CT deposit is sufficient to effectively sequester ambient concentrations H₂S generated in this deposit through FeS precipitates. Results identifying (1) distinct zones of porewater Fe²⁺ and H₂S, (2) co-occurrence of the highest [H₂S] and lowest dissolved organic C (DOC) at 22-24 m consistent with heterotrophic sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) activity, and (3) the presence of mixed valence Fe biomineral, magnetite, throughout the deposit, are all consistent with microbially-mediated Fe and S cycling occurring within this CT deposit. The cultivation independent identification of several known iron reducing bacteria (IRB) and SRB within CT microbial communities, in conjunction with observed positive growth of IRB and SRB functional metabolic enrichments, demonstrates widespread capacity for microbial Fe and S activity throughout the CT deposit. Metagenomic characterization of CT microbial communities revealed high diversity (over 20 phyla) over the 5 depths examined. Multivariate statistical analyses (Unifrac) revealed that bacterial community composition and structure was driven by changed in DOC, ORP and salinity and that structuring corresponded with a surficial zone of Fe³⁺ reduction and an underlying zone of SO₄^2- reduction. Despite the high organic carbon (OC) content of oil sands tailings, much of that C is not considered to be labile and accessible to microbes. Based on the results of this thesis, CT SRB appear to have a greater ability than IRB to utilize recalcitrant OC (e.g. bitumen, naphthenic acids) given the widespread occurrence of porewater [H₂S] and surficially restricted [Fe²⁺] despite accessible pools of Fe³⁺ and OC with depth. This enhanced understanding of biogeochemical S cycling within CT newly establishes the importance of microbial activity in these processes, identifying the need to incorporate microbially based understanding into on-going development of reclamation strategies in order to manage these waste materials effectively.</p> / Master of Science (MSc)

Aeolian landforms are classified based on their plan morphology, which is a function of sediment transport volume, wind direction, and vegetation. In the case of compound landforms or two-dimensional exposures (outcrops), there is insufficient information for discriminating between 3D morphotypes (e.g., barchans vs. parabolic dunes). To characterize the dip-section architecture of near end-member morphologies (interacting barchans and sparsely vegetated parabolics), a series of axial transects were selected from &gt;25 km of high-resolution (500 MHz) ground-penetrating radar (GPR) data from the gypsum dune field of White Sands National Monument, New Mexico. For dunes of comparable size (6-7 m high), a series of attributes were analyzed for unsaturated portions along the thickest (axial) radargram sections. Given the limitations in vertical resolution (7 cm in dry sand), the average measureable slipface thickness in barchans ranged between 10-22 cm, whereas parabolic slipfaces were thinner at 10-14 cm. High-amplitude diffractions produced by buried vegetation, semi-lithified pedestals, and bioturbation structures were rare within barchans (point-source diffraction density = 0.03/m2; hyperbolics per 1-m-wide cross-sectional area of the image), in contrast to a point-source density of 0.07/m2 in parabolics. An aeolian internal complexity threshold (&#982;) is proposed, which incorporates standardized scores of slipface thickness, point-source diffraction density, and continuity of major bounding surfaces at mesoscale range determined through semivariogram analysis. For the study region, these variables were sufficient for discriminating barchans (&#982; = -2.39 to -0.25; &#982; &#773;b= -1.65) from parabolic (&#982; = 0.13 to 2.87; &#982; &#773;p= 1.65) dunes. This threshold has the potential for differentiating dune morphotypes in areas where surface morphology is masked and for identifying compound landforms (e.g., a re-activated parabolic dune converted into a barchan in situ). Ultimately, characterization of bedding complexity in ancient aeolian sequences will provide useful information about key paleoenvironmental variables. / Geology

Naphthenic acids (NAs) comprise a complex mixture of alkyl-substituted acyclic and cycloaliphatic carboxylic acids. NAs are present in wastewaters at petroleum refineries and in the process waters of oil sands extraction plants where they are primarily retained in large tailing ponds in the Athabasca region of Northern Alberta. The toxicity of these waters, primarily caused by NAs, dictates the need for their treatment.Bioremediation is considered as one of the most cost-effective approaches for the treatment of these wastewaters. Ex-situ bioremediation conducted in a bioreactor optimizes the microbial growth and activity by controlling environmental conditions resulting in efficient conversion of the contaminants to less harmful compounds. In this work, a circulating packed bed bioreactor (CPBB), with improved mixing, mass transfer and biomass hold-up has been used to study biodegradation of several model NA compounds: namely trans-4-methyl-1-cyclohexane carboxylic acid (trans-4MCHCA), a mixture of cis- and trans- 4-methyl-cyclohexane acetic acid (4MCHAA), and octanoic acid as well co-biodegradation of these naphthenic acids with octanoic acid, using a mixed culture developed in our laboratory. The biodegradation rates achieved for trans-4MCHCA in the CPBB are far greater than those reported previously in the literatures. The maximum biodegradation rate of trans-4MCHCA observed during batch operation was 43.5 mg/L-h, while a rate of 209 mg/L-h was achieved during continuous operation. Although cis-4MCHAA is more resistant to biodegradation when compared with trans-4MCHCA, the experimental results obtained from this study indicated both isomers were effectively biodegraded in the CPBB, with the maximum biodegradation rates being as high as 2.25 mg/L-h (cis-4MCHAA) and 4.17 mg/L-h (trans-4MCHAA) during batch operations and 4.17 mg/L-h(cis-4MCHAA) and 7.80 mg/L-h (trans-4MCHAA) during the continuous operation. Optimum temperature for biodegradation of 4MCHAA was determined as 25 aC. Furthermore, the biodegradation rate of single ring NAs (trans-4MCHCA and 4MCHAA) were found to be significantly improved through utilization of octanoic acid as a co-substrate. For example, the maximum biodegradation rate of trans-4MCHCA obtained during batch operation with the presence of octanoic acid was 112 mg/L-h, which was 2.6 times faster than the maximum value of 43.5 mg/L-h when trans-4MCHCA was used as a sole substrate. Similarly, the highest biodegradation rates of cis-4MCHAA and trans-4MCHAA were 16.7 and 28.4 mg/L-h in the presence of octanoic acid, which were 7.4 and 6.8 times higher than the maximum rates of 2.25 and 4.17 mg/L-h in the absence of octanoic acid.

Naphthenic acids (NAs) comprise a complex mixture of alkyl-substituted acyclic and cycloaliphatic carboxylic acids. NAs are present in wastewaters at petroleum refineries and in the process waters of oil sands extraction plants where they are primarily retained in large tailing ponds in the Athabasca region of Northern Alberta. The toxicity of these waters, primarily caused by NAs, dictates the need for their treatment.Bioremediation is considered as one of the most cost-effective approaches for the treatment of these wastewaters. Ex-situ bioremediation conducted in a bioreactor optimizes the microbial growth and activity by controlling environmental conditions resulting in efficient conversion of the contaminants to less harmful compounds. In this work, a circulating packed bed bioreactor (CPBB), with improved mixing, mass transfer and biomass hold-up has been used to study biodegradation of several model NA compounds: namely trans-4-methyl-1-cyclohexane carboxylic acid (trans-4MCHCA), a mixture of cis- and trans- 4-methyl-cyclohexane acetic acid (4MCHAA), and octanoic acid as well co-biodegradation of these naphthenic acids with octanoic acid, using a mixed culture developed in our laboratory. The biodegradation rates achieved for trans-4MCHCA in the CPBB are far greater than those reported previously in the literatures. The maximum biodegradation rate of trans-4MCHCA observed during batch operation was 43.5 mg/L-h, while a rate of 209 mg/L-h was achieved during continuous operation. Although cis-4MCHAA is more resistant to biodegradation when compared with trans-4MCHCA, the experimental results obtained from this study indicated both isomers were effectively biodegraded in the CPBB, with the maximum biodegradation rates being as high as 2.25 mg/L-h (cis-4MCHAA) and 4.17 mg/L-h (trans-4MCHAA) during batch operations and 4.17 mg/L-h(cis-4MCHAA) and 7.80 mg/L-h (trans-4MCHAA) during the continuous operation. Optimum temperature for biodegradation of 4MCHAA was determined as 25 aC. Furthermore, the biodegradation rate of single ring NAs (trans-4MCHCA and 4MCHAA) were found to be significantly improved through utilization of octanoic acid as a co-substrate. For example, the maximum biodegradation rate of trans-4MCHCA obtained during batch operation with the presence of octanoic acid was 112 mg/L-h, which was 2.6 times faster than the maximum value of 43.5 mg/L-h when trans-4MCHCA was used as a sole substrate. Similarly, the highest biodegradation rates of cis-4MCHAA and trans-4MCHAA were 16.7 and 28.4 mg/L-h in the presence of octanoic acid, which were 7.4 and 6.8 times higher than the maximum rates of 2.25 and 4.17 mg/L-h in the absence of octanoic acid.

In Alberta, Canada, amongst its mixture of sand, clay, water and other minerals, the tar sand’s heavy and viscous component bitumen, a thick, sticky form of crude oil is extracted through two methods; open-pit mining for shallower deposits (&lt;75 m), and in situ for deeper deposits (&gt;75 m). This degree project consists of a comparison between these two extraction methods impact on air, nature and water, which all have been evaluated by reviewing and analyzing literature. Studies showed that in situ methods cause a higher impact on air than open-pit mining, through higher emissions of greenhouse gases and sulfur dioxide (SO2), and will surpass the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions caused by the open-pit mines when the shallower, more accessible tar sands dwindle. Open-pit mining causes a higher impact on water due to its large tailing ponds that causes leakage of processing water and fine tailings, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH: s) and these 13 following elements considered priority pollutants (PPE) by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); antimony (Sb), arsenic (As), beryllium (Be), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), mercury (Hg), nickel (Ni), selenium (Se), silver (Ag), thallium (Tl) and zinc (Zn). However studies remain unclear whether or not in situ methods are worse due to underground tailing ponds. Finally, when it comes to nature, open-pit mining causes a more direct environmental impact through deforestation, drainage of peat and wetland, and blasting of rock. In situ methods however, seem to cause more of a long term environmental impact through fragmentation. Dividing the landscape into smaller units through roads, wells, pipelines and seismic lines, leads to domestic biodiversity and homogenization of flora and fauna as unfavorable conditions is created for the nature’s wildlife. In conclusion, in situ methods causes a bigger impact on air than open-pit mining, while open-pit mining causes a bigger impact on water. Due to lack of time and resources, more research about the direct impact on nature is needed to fully evaluate which of the two extraction methods causes the least environmental impact.

The fuel for dynamic change in the United State’s energy relationship with Canada lies in immense deposits of tar sands beneath the boreal forests of Alberta province. Unconventional production of oil from this resource has accelerated in recent years and remains poised for continued expansion, facilitated, in part, by plans to import tar sands crude through new pipelines to refineries in the United States. However, the development of this resource carries uniquely heavy environmental burdens, and U.S. environmental groups have challenged the process by which the United States authorizes cross-border oil pipelines. This thesis analyzes the presidential permitting process and concludes that executive or legislative action is necessary to eliminate legal uncertainties and improve the transparency and public acceptability of determinations that new cross-border pipelines are warranted. / text