Surficial Bitumen in the Athabasca Oilsands Region, Alberta, Canada

摘要

The Athabasca Oilsands of Northeastern Alberta, Canada, represent a significant deposit of hydrocarbons. Much of the material is recovered by surface mining operations. Alberta regulators require establishment of equivalent land capability at mine closure. This will require significant amounts of clean material for cover systems and ecosystem reconstruction. Recent cuts in the proposed borrow areas for cover material have revealed unusual deposits of bitumen in the surficial materials. This paper outlines recent work in characterizing the hydrocarbon composition of the bitumen through field sampling and analysis by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection and gravimetric analysis. This paper also presents an initial investigation of contaminant mobility and biodegradability conducted by a soil column leaching experiment designed for this purpose.