Mineralogical and engineering index properties of the basal McMurray Formation clay shales

1979 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurice B. Dusseault ◽  
Don Scafe
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Index Properties ◽  
Oil Sand ◽  
Borehole Data ◽  
Tailings Disposal ◽  
Characteristic Index ◽  
Mcmurray Formation ◽  
Clay Shales ◽  
Shearing Resistance ◽  
Highwall Stability

Analysis of 83 specimens of the basal McMurray Formation clay shales (basal clays) has revealed a novel clay mineralogical suite: the clays are illite–kaolinite clays, but vermiculite and mixed-layer clays are present in significant amounts. Index and engineering behavior are affected: high compressibilities, low residual angles of shearing resistance, and low permeabilities are characteristic; index properties, however, are typical of illite–kaolinite clays.Comparison of outcrop and borehole data reveal significant differences between the sample sources.The location of the basal clays at the base of future open pits has implications for oil-sand development with respect to highwall stability and tailings disposal structures.

scholarly journals Microstructural characterization of a Canadian oil sand

2012 ◽  
Vol 49 (10) ◽  
pp. 1212-1220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dinh Hong Doan ◽  
Pierre Delage ◽  
Jean François Nauroy ◽  
Anh Minh Tang ◽  
Souhail Youssef
Keyword(s):  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Microstructural Characterization ◽  
Water Layer ◽  
3D Image ◽  
Oil Sand ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Mcmurray Formation ◽  
Gas Expansion

The microstructure of oil sand samples extracted at a depth of 75 m from the estuarine Middle McMurray Formation (Alberta, Canada) has been investigated using high resolution three-dimensional (3D) X-ray microtomography (µCT) and cryo scanning electron microscopy (CryoSEM). µCT images evidenced some dense areas composed of highly angular grains surrounded by fluids, which are separated by larger pores full of gas. In dense areas, 3D image analysis provided porosity values comparable with in situ log data and macroscopic laboratory determinations, showing that they are representative of intact states. µCT hence provided some information on the morphology of the cracks and disturbance created by gas expansion. The CryoSEM technique, in which the sample is freeze fractured within the SEM chamber prior to observation, provided pictures in which the (frozen) bitumen clearly appears between the sand grains. No evidence of the existence of a thin connate water layer between grains and the bitumen, frequently mentioned in the literature, has been obtained. Bitumen appears to strongly adhere to the grains, with some grains being completely coated. The curved shape of some bitumen menisci suggests a bitumen wet behaviour.

scholarly journals Quantitative Characterization of Tidal Couplets in Oil Sands Reservoir, the Upper McMurray Formation, Northeastern Alberta, Canada

Lithosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (Special 1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Chen ◽  
Jixin Huang ◽  
Zhaohui Xia ◽  
Zhiquan Nie ◽  
Xiaoxing Shi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Spatial Scale ◽  
Oil Sands ◽  
Quantitative Description ◽  
Petrophysical Properties ◽  
Oil Sand ◽  
Quantitative Characterization ◽  
Mcmurray Formation ◽  
Characterization Procedure ◽  
Classification Quantitative

Abstract The McMurray Formation, NE Alberta, Canada, is one of the most significant bitumen bearing deposits worldwide. This formation deposited and reworked in fluvial, tidal, or estuarine environments results in a huge number of tidal couplets (TCs) which is consisted of mm-cm scale sandy and muddy interlayers. These couplets not only increase the geologic heterogeneity of the oil sand reservoir but also make it hard to predict the performance of in situ thermal processes. In this paper, based on literatures, lab analysis, core photos, logging, and drilling data, a quantitative characterization procedure for mm-cm scale tidal couplets was proposed. This procedure, which includes identification, classification, quantitative description, and spatial distribution prediction, was presented. Five parameters, thickness, mud volume, laminae frequency, spatial scale, and effective petrophysical properties, were selected to describe the TCs quantitatively. To show the procedure practically, TCs in the oil sand reservoir of McMurray Formation, Mackay River Project, and CNPC, were selected to demonstrate this procedure. The results indicate that the TCs are in mm-cm thickness, densely clustered, and in a variety of geometries. Based on geologic origins, these couplets were divided into four types: tidal bar couplets (TBCs), sand bar couplets (SBCs), mix flat couplets (MFCs), and tidal channel couplets (TCCs). The thickness, mud volume, and frequency were calculated by mathematical morphological processed core photos. The spatial scale of TCs was estimated by high-density well correlations. The effective petrophysical properties were estimated by bedding scale modeling and property modeling via REV. Finally, the spatial distribution of TCs was predicted by object-based modeling.

scholarly journals Geotechnical investigations of the Sawatari Landslide in Shikoku, Japan

2000 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Netra Prakash Bhandary ◽  
Ryuichi Yatabe ◽  
Norio Yagi ◽  
Kinutada Yokota
Keyword(s):  
Clay Minerals ◽  
Clay Mineralogy ◽  
Expansive Clay ◽  
Index Properties ◽  
Strength Parameters ◽  
Expansive Clays ◽  
Shearing Resistance ◽  
Geotechnical Investigations ◽  
Slip Layer

Many large landslides are found in various parts of Japan. Among them, the Sawatari Landslide in the Shikoku Region is quite different from others, as it contains expansive clays. This study focuses on the mineralogy, strength parameters, and index properties of the slip layer clay of the Sawatari Landslide. The study of clay mineralogy revealed significant chlorite and expansive chlorite content. The angle of residual shearing resistance of the slip layer soil containing expansive clay minerals is much smaller than that of the soil containing non-expansive minerals.

Oil Sand Fine Tails Absorption Into Overburden Clay Shales-A Dry Landscape Alternative

1991 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.W. Mimura ◽  
E.R. Lord
Keyword(s):  
Oil Sand ◽  
Clay Shales

The Large Salcito Landslide Triggered by the 2002 Molise, Italy, Earthquake

2004 ◽  
Vol 20 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 95-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Bozzano ◽  
Salvatore Martino ◽  
Giuseppe Naso ◽  
Alberto Prestininzi ◽  
Roberto Walter Romeo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pore Water Pressure ◽  
Water Pressure ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Borehole Data ◽  
Clay Shales ◽  
Site Investigations ◽  
Local Seismic Response ◽  
Below Ground ◽  
Scaly Clay

The 2002 Molise, Italy, earthquake triggered a deep planar earthslide about 38 km away from the epicenter, mainly involving scaly clay shales and related weathered material. Based on site investigations and borehole data, the inferred depth of the sliding surface is between 30 and 50 meters below ground level, indicating an involved volume of about 40⋅106 m3. The complex geological setting, the generated excess pore water pressure, and possible local seismic response are thought to have been the primary contributing factors.

Characteristics of natural slopes in the Athabasca Oil Sands

1978 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurice B. Dusseault ◽  
Norbert R. Morgenstern
Keyword(s):  
Failure Mode ◽  
Oil Sands ◽  
High Strength ◽  
Outer Face ◽  
Oil Sand ◽  
Athabasca Oil Sands ◽  
Mcmurray Formation ◽  
A Minor ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
River Valleys

The Athabasca Oil Sands are largely within the McMurray Formation, which is a transgressive blanket quartz sand of Lower Cretaceous age. Millennia of erosion have resulted in extensive exposures of oil sand along river valleys in the vicinity of Fort McMurray. Study of these slopes has contributed to understanding the nature and behavior of oil sands. Oil sand slopes with active toe erosion are characteristically high and steep (up to 70 m at slopes over 50°), have an indurated outer face and display a stress–relief exfoliation joint system that controls slope recession phenomena. Bitumen does not contribute mechanically to slope stability. The major agents affecting slope morphology are the lithology, the aspect and the basal stratigraphy. Ravelling along exfoliation fractures is the major failure mode, block falls are a minor failure mode and rotational landslides have not been observed. Remolded oil sand may flow viscously, but intact oil sand displays an unusually high strength.

The Edgerton Landslide

1978 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 510-521 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Thomson ◽  
R. W. Tweedie
Keyword(s):  
Slip Surface ◽  
Failure Surface ◽  
Strength Loss ◽  
Soil Parameters ◽  
The North ◽  
Slide Mass ◽  
Clay Shales ◽  
Field Evidence ◽  
Shearing Resistance ◽  
Gradual Loss

In September 1974 a large landslide occurred about 48 km northeast of Wainwright, Alberta. This failure presented features of interest but preslide conditions could not be reliably determined. Immediately south of this landslide a scarp some 150 m long and 0.6 m high had formed, probably contemporaneously with the failure. Field inspection suggested that this incipient failure was a sufficiently independent feature to merit detailed investigation. The major failure was termed the North Slide and the incipient failure was termed the South Slide. Collectively these slides make up the Edgerton Landslide.The failure occurred largely in flat lying, poorly indurated interbedded sandstones, siltstones, and clay shales of late Upper Cretaceous age which are overlain in the upland areas by a thin veneer of till of Wisconsin age. In the vicinity of the landslides there are many old slump areas much subdued by erosion. Field evidence indicated that the lower part of the recent failure surface had reactivated an old failure surface, whereas the scarp area represents a first time slide.The South Slide was investigated by boreholes and test pits. Samples were obtained for laboratory testing and piezometers and tiltmeters were installed in selected boreholes.The scarp increased in height and by May 1976 it was 2.3 m high. There was no sign of a toe cropping out down the slope; however, the tiltmeters became closed off successively in a downhill direction. There is strong evidence to suggest that failure is progressing from scarp to toe.Analyses of the failure indicate residual angles of shearing resistance were being mobilized along the outer pre-sheared part of the failure surface due to old landslides. The recent slip surface comprises an inward extension of this old surface and an upward portion rising at an angle of about 55° to meet with the known scarp. Along this latter portion of the recent failure surface the soil parameters yielding the most reasonable factor of safety are a peak angle of shearing resistance and a cohesion very much less than that determined from laboratory testing.It is postulated that the failure occurred due to a gradual loss of soil strength, manifested by a virtual disappearance of cohesion, with the final triggering mechanism being a springtime rise in the pore pressure within the slide mass. Factors involved in the strength loss are suggested as including deep weathering during the Tertiary, valley rebound, and old landslide activity.

Sediment Distribution, McMurray Formation, Syncrude Oil-Sand Leases, Alberta, Canada: ABSTRACT

AAPG Bulletin ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adel O. Tammam, Gordon Stewart, Geo
Keyword(s):  
Oil Sand ◽  
Sediment Distribution ◽  
Mcmurray Formation
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