Quantifying relations and similarities of the meteorological parameters among the weather stations in the Alberta Oil Sands region

Our objective was to quantify the similarity in the meteorological measurements of 17 stations under three weather networks in the Alberta oil sands region. The networks were for climate monitoring under the water quantity program (WQP) and air program, including Meteorological Towers (MT) and Edge Sites (ES). The meteorological parameters were air temperature (AT), relative humidity (RH), solar radiation (SR), barometric pressure (BP), precipitation (PR), and snow depth (SD). Among the various measures implemented for finding correlations in this study, we found that the use of Pearson’s coefficient (r) and absolute average error (AAE) would be sufficient. Also, we applied the percent similarity method upon considering at least 75% of the value in finding the similarity between station pairs. Our results showed that we could optimize the networks by selecting the least number of stations (for each network) to describe the measure-variability in meteorological parameters. We identified that five stations are sufficient for the measurement of AT, one for RH, five for SR, three for BP, seven for PR, and two for SD in the WQP network. For the MT network, six for AT, two for RH, six for SR, and four for PR, and the ES network requires six for AT, three for RH, six for SR, and two for BP. This study could potentially be critical to rationalize/optimize weather networks in the study area.

Effects of Microbially Induced Carbonate Precipitation on Diffuse Double Layer and Particle Fabric of Oil Sands Fine Tailings

Microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) is a sustainable biological process that catalyzes carbonate mineral precipitation within geomaterials. This study evaluates the performance and mechanisms of the MICP treatment for flocculating the oil sands fine tailings (FT). Column tests showed that the untreated FT did not decant during the 31 days. However, the MICP technique shortened the dewatering process. To elucidate the mechanisms of the MICP-induced flocculation of the FT, the diffuse double layer (DDL) thickness and microstructure of the specimens were evaluated. Three chemical equilibrium scenarios that gradually considered the MICP-biochemical reactions were explored to analyze the change of the DDL thickness. The results showed that increasing of ionic strength by urea hydrolysis decreased the DDL thickness. The fabric observation indicated that the specimens with the most calcium carbonate precipitation had the densest fabric. In summary, the MICP technique densified the fabric of FT via ureolysis process and precipitating minerals.

Effects of Buried Wood on the Development of Populus tremuloides on Various Oil Sands Reclamation Soils

Buried wood is an important but understudied component of reclamation soils. We examined the impacts of buried wood amounts and species on the growth of the common reclamation tree species trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides). In a greenhouse study, aspen seedlings were planted into four soil types, upland derived fine forest floor-mineral mix (fFFMM), coarse forest floor-mineral mix (cFFMM), and lowland derived peat and peat-mineral mix (PMM), that were mixed with either aspen or pine wood shavings at four concentrations (0%, 10%, 20% and 50% of total volume). Height and diameter growth, chlorophyll concentration, and leaf and stem biomass were measured. Soil nutrients and chemical properties were obtained from a parallel study. Buried wood primarily represents an input of carbon to the soil, increasing the C:N ratio, reducing the soil available nitrogen and potentially reducing plant growth. Soil type had the largest impact on aspen growth with fFFMM = peat > PMM > cFFMM. Buried wood type, i.e., aspen or pine, did not have an impact on aspen development, but the amount of buried wood did. In particular, there was an interaction between wood amount and soil type with a large reduction in aspen growth with wood additions of 10% and above on the more productive soils, but no reduction on the less productive soils.