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.

Physiological and Biochemical Responses of Ontario Slimy Sculpin (Cottus cognatus) to Sediment from the Athabasca Oil Sands Area

2003 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 361-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald R. Tetreault ◽  
Mark E. McMaster ◽  
D. George Dixon ◽  
Joanne L. Parrott
Keyword(s):  
Oil Sands ◽  
Production Capacity ◽  
Erod Activity ◽  
Oil Sand ◽  
Athabasca Oil Sands ◽  
Cottus Cognatus ◽  
Exposed Fish ◽  
Biochemical Responses ◽  
Slimy Sculpin

Abstract This study was conducted to evaluate whether a laboratory exposure of reference fish to oil sands sediment could produce biochemical responses (increases in 7-ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase [EROD] activity and decreases in vitro steroid production capacity) similar to fish caught in the Athabasca Oil Sands area. Sediment samples from the Steepbank River, Alberta, were collected outside of the oil sands area at a reference site (S-Ref), within the oil sands areas where oil sand compounds leach naturally into the surface water (S-Nat), and within the natural-leach deposit areas, but also adjacent to anthropogenic mining activity (S-Dev). In the laboratory, an Ontario reference population of slimy sculpin (Cottus cognatus) were exposed to sediment concentrations of 10 or 20 g/L, for 4 and 8 d. A period of 4 d was sufficient to induce EROD activity in this species by these sediments. The EROD activity measured in exposed fish was comparable to that measured in fish native to the oil sands area. This study was not capable of predicting a reduced ability of gonadal tissue of exposed fish to produce steroid hormones in vitro, as was demonstrated in the wild fish assessment of 1999 and 2000. The short-term laboratory bioassay exposing slimy sculpin to sediment from the Athabasca Oil Sands area was not a suitable surrogate for field studies, however it could be an important tool in identifying MFO-inducing compounds in Athabasca Oil Sands sediment using a Toxicity Identification Evaluation (TIE).

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.

Sandstone provenance and insights into the paleogeography of the McMurray Formation from detrital zircon geochronology, Athabasca Oil Sands, Canada

AAPG Bulletin ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 100 (02) ◽  
pp. 269-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Benyon ◽  
Andrew L. Leier ◽  
Dale A. Leckie ◽  
Stephen M. Hubbard ◽  
George E. Gehrels
Keyword(s):  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Oil Sands ◽  
Zircon Geochronology ◽  
Athabasca Oil Sands ◽  
Detrital Zircon Geochronology ◽  
Mcmurray Formation ◽  
Sandstone Provenance
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document