Salinization of soil over saline-sodic overburden from the oil sands in Alberta

2010 ◽  
Vol 90 (4) ◽  
pp. 637-647 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Kessler ◽  
S.L. Barbour ◽  
K.C.J. van Rees ◽  
B.S. Dobchuk
Keyword(s):  
Oil Sands ◽  
Soil Cover ◽  
Slope Position ◽  
Soil Profiles ◽  
Vegetation Growth ◽  
Salt Migration ◽  
Salinity Levels ◽  
Cover Thickness ◽  
Reconstructed Soil

Saline-sodic mine overburden (also referred to as spoil) removed to access the oil sands in the Athabasca region of Alberta is used as backfill in open pits and is also placed in large upland structures. These deposits are reclaimed with a soil cover to support re-vegetation. The chemistry within reconstructed soil profiles over saline-sodic overburden was investigated to determine the nature and spatial distribution of salts in the soils. Four reclamation treatments were compared: three layered covers (35, 50 and 100 cm thick) and one non-layered cover (100 cm thick). Salts have accumulated in the cover soils 15 to 20 cm above the overburden, raising the electrical conductivity in the lower part of the soil to between 4.5 and 6.0 dS m-1, which is beyond the acceptable value for vegetation growth. Salt redistribution was not related to slope position and the pattern of salt ingress suggests that diffusion has been the main mechanism driving salt migration into the soils during the initial 4-yr period following placement. Cover thickness did not affect the extent of salt migration, but the overall quality of the thinner covers (35 and 50 cm) for vegetation growth was compromised by the increased salinity levels.

scholarly journals A generic system dynamics model for simulating and evaluating the hydrological performance of reconstructed watersheds

2008 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 1441-1478 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Keshta ◽  
A. Elshorbagy ◽  
A. Barr
Keyword(s):  
System Dynamics ◽  
Oil Sands ◽  
Soil Cover ◽  
Natural Soil ◽  
Water Balance Components ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
Natural Watersheds ◽  
Reconstructed Soil ◽  
Alternative Designs ◽  
Generic System

Abstract. The mining of oil sands in northern Alberta, Canada, involves the stripping and salvage of surface soil layers to gain access to the oil mines. The oil sands industry has committed to reconstructing these disturbed watersheds to replicate the performance of the natural soil horizons and to reproduce the various functions of natural watersheds. The selection of the texture and thickness of the reconstructed soil cover layers is based primarily on the concept that all covers must have sufficient moisture for vegetation over the growing season. Assessment of the hydrological performance of the reconstructed soil covers is crucial to select the best cover alternative. A generic system dynamics watershed (GSDW) model is developed, based on the existing site-specific SDW model, and applied to five reconstructed watersheds located in the Athabasca mining basin, Alberta, Canada; and one natural watershed (boreal forest) located in Saskatchewan, Canada; to simulate the various hydrological processes; in particular, soil moisture patterns and actual evapotranspiration, in reconstructed and natural watersheds. The model is capable of capturing the dynamics of the water balance components in both reconstructed and natural watersheds. The developed GSDW model provides a vital tool, which enables the investigation of the utility of different soil cover alternative designs and evaluation of their performance. Moreover, the model can be used to conduct short- and long- term predictions under different climate scenarios.

Soil water regimes of reclaimed upland slopes in the oil sands region of Alberta

2012 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Leatherdale ◽  
D. S. Chanasyk ◽  
S. Quideau
Keyword(s):  
Soil Water ◽  
Oil Sands ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Organic Matter Content ◽  
Surface Mining ◽  
Slope Position ◽  
Soil Profiles ◽  
Soil Water Retention ◽  
Water Regimes ◽  
Large Scale Disturbance

Leatherdale, J., Chanasyk, D. S. and Quideau, S. 2012. Soil water regimes of reclaimed upland slopes in the oil sands region of Alberta. Can. J. Soil Sci. 92: 117–129. Large oil sands deposits in the Athabasca oil sands region of Alberta, Canada, are recovered through surface mining, creating a large-scale disturbance. Reclamation requires reconstruction of soil profiles to return the land to equivalent land capability and support the required end land use. Soil water regimes must be understood to allow for planting of appropriate vegetation species. This study quantified soil water regimes on reclaimed upland slopes of various reclamation prescriptions and determined whether soil water was affected by slope position. Slope position did not have a consistent effect on soil water. Spatial variability in soil characteristics and vegetation distribution likely had a greater influence on soil water than did slope position. The upper slope soil profiles had highly dynamic water regimes and a greater response to precipitation events than the lower soil profiles. Differences in water-holding capacity among sites were attributed to differences in clay, sand and organic matter content. Overwinter soil water recharge varied dramatically by site. Capillary barriers resulting from the textural discontinuities created by the reclamation prescriptions enhanced soil water retention within the profiles in at least two sites, and hence are desirable in reclamation scenarios, especially where reclamation material is coarse textured.

scholarly journals Production and quality of melon hybrid Mandacaru irrigated with different levels of salinity

2011 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 600-604 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damiana Cleuma de Medeiros ◽  
José Francismar de Medeiros ◽  
Francisco Aécio de L Pereira ◽  
Sonally Cristina de M Silva ◽  
Maria das Graças Amâncio
Keyword(s):  
Block Design ◽  
Fruit Production ◽  
Solid Content ◽  
Salinity Level ◽  
Soluble Solids ◽  
Northeastern Brazil ◽  
Soluble Solid Content ◽  
Salinity Levels ◽  
Solids Content

Among the problems faced by the melon crop in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, northeastern Brazil, the effect of water and soil salinity is considered one of the key factors to limit fruit production and quality. The aim of this work was to study the effects of using irrigation waters with different salinity levels on yield and quality of fruits of the yellow melon hybrid Mandacaru. A randomized complete block design was used with five treatments (irrigation water salt concentrations: 0.54, 1.48, 2.02, 3.03, 3.9 dS m-1) and four replications. The effects of these concentrations were evaluated through, number of marketable fruits per plant, marketable and total fruit yield, average marketable fruit mass, soluble solids content and pulp firmness. Increment in water salinity level negatively influenced crop yield. The 3.9 dS m-1 salinity level caused yield losses of 20.31%, due to the reduction of fruit number per plant. The highest soluble solid content and the highest pulp firmness values were estimated to occur at salinity levels 2.09 and 3.5 dS m-1, respectively.

scholarly journals The Impact of Climate Change on the Water Balance of Oil Sands Reclamation Covers and Natural Soil Profiles

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (11) ◽  
pp. 1731-1752 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md. Shahabul Alam ◽  
S. Lee Barbour ◽  
Amin Elshorbagy ◽  
Mingbin Huang
Keyword(s):  
Oil Sands ◽  
Weather Generator ◽  
First Century ◽  
Soil Profiles ◽  
Percentage Increase ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Historical Climate ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The design of reclamation soil covers at oil sands mines in northern Alberta, Canada, has been conventionally based on the calibration of soil–vegetation–atmosphere transfer (SVAT) models against field monitoring observations collected over several years, followed by simulations of long-term performance using historical climate data. This paper evaluates the long-term water balances for reclamation covers on two oil sands landforms and three natural coarse-textured forest soil profiles using both historical climate data and future climate projections. Twenty-first century daily precipitation and temperature data from CanESM2 were downscaled based on three representative concentration pathways (RCPs) employing a stochastic weather generator [Long Ashton Research Station Weather Generator (LARS-WG)]. Relative humidity, wind speed, and net radiation were downscaled using the delta change method. Downscaled precipitation and estimated potential evapotranspiration were used as inputs to simulate soil water dynamics using physically based models. Probability distributions of growing season (April–October) actual evapotranspiration (AET) and net percolation (NP) for the baseline and future periods show that AET and NP at all sites are expected to increase throughout the twenty-first century regardless of RCP, time period, and soil profile. Greater increases in AET and NP are projected toward the end of the twenty-first century. The increases in future NP at the two reclamation covers are larger (as a percentage increase) than at most of the natural sites. Increases in NP will result in greater water yield to surface water and may accelerate the rate at which chemical constituents contained within mine waste are released to downstream receptors, suggesting these potential changes need to be considered in mine closure designs.

scholarly journals Impact of Glycine Betaine on Salinity Tolerance of Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni) under In Vitro Condition

2017 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 95-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Rameeh ◽  
M. Gerami ◽  
V. Ghasemi Omran ◽  
S. Ghavampour
Keyword(s):  
Glycine Betaine ◽  
Stevia Rebaudiana ◽  
Mean Value ◽  
Rebaudioside A ◽  
Stevia Rebaudiana Bertoni ◽  
Nacl Concentration ◽  
Salinity Levels ◽  
High Concentrations

Abstract Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni), with great potential as a natural sweeteners source, has a high content of sweeteners, which are up to 150 times sweeter than sugar, but virtually with no calories. Stevia also suitable to be cultivated in semiarid climates and coastal areas, which are characterized by the low quality of the irrigation water. Soil salinity occupies a prominent place among the soil problems that threaten the sustainability of agriculture over a vast area in the world. Glycine betaine is an osmoprotectant, that plays an important role and accumulates rapidly in many plants during salinity or drought stress. In order to evaluation of glycine betaine amending effects on salinity stress in stevia under in vitro condition, a factorial experiment was conducted in 2015. Four NaCl levels, including 0, 50, 75 and 100 mM, along with 0, 1, 12.5, 25 and 50 mM of glycine betaine concentrations were used in Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium. The results showed that salinity levels had significant reduction effects on plant height, root length, shoot fresh weight, number of leaf, total chlorophyll, rebaudioside A and stevioside of the stevia genotype. Due to increasing of glycine betaine, levels all the traits were increased. Owing to amending effect of glycine betaine, its high concentrations made less hazarding effects of salinity on the researched traits. The highest mean value of rebaudioside A (10.62rt) and stevioside (23.38rt) determined at 50 mM of glycine betaine with 0 mM of NaCl concentration.

scholarly journals Regular Monitoring of the Condition of Soils and Green Plants As a Direction for Assessing the Quality of the Urban Environment

2021 ◽  
pp. 5-13
Author(s):  
Anna Tikhonova ◽  
◽  
Anna Kholodenko ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Environment ◽  
Quality Index ◽  
Soil Cover ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The West ◽  
Regular Monitoring ◽  
Zone Of Influence ◽  
The City

This paper examines the existing in the Russian Federation approaches to assessing the quality of the urban environment, the concept of the quality index of the urban environment; the analysis of indicators for calculating the quality index of the urban environment and the factors that form the ecological well-being of the urban environment for the local population has been carried out. The territory of the northern industrial hub of Volgograd was chosen as the object of research, in particular, the zone of influence of the ferrous metallurgy enterprise AO “VMK ‘Krasny Oktyabr’”, which has a historically specific location relative to the functional zones of the city. The analysis of the results of monitoring the content of mobile forms of heavy metals in the soil cover, carried out by the method of atomic absorption spectrometry, and the assessment of the general life state of tree green plantations in the territory of the sanitary protection zone of the enterprise based on the enumeration of trees is presented. The identified zone of influence of the enterprise, taking into account the presence of additional sources of pollution of the soil cover and MPC of metals, instead of their background concentrations, extends for 3.5–3.7 km from the border of the enterprise in the form of elongated areas of increased concentrations. Cartographic visualization reveals the presence of two clearly pronounced foci of pollution located to the west of the existing SOC of the enterprise. When assessing the general condition of trees, it is also possible to recognize the worst territory of the test plots located to the west of the operating TWCs in accordance with the directions of the prevailing winds. The data obtained confirm the feasibility of organizing regular monitoring of the soil cover and the state of green forests in the city as one of the directions for assessing the quality of the environment and taking these indicators into account when calculating the quality index of the urban environment.

scholarly journals Analysis of saline land and determination of the level of salinity of irrigated lands with use of the geographic information system technologies

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-316
Author(s):  
Ilkhom Begmatov ◽  
Bakhtiyar Matyakubov ◽  
Doniyor Akhmatov ◽  
Mukhayo Pulatova
Keyword(s):  
Ground Water ◽  
Interpolation Method ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Thematic Maps ◽  
Gis Technology ◽  
Depth Level ◽  
Salinity Levels ◽  
Irrigated Lands

In Uzbekistan, more than half of population lives in rural area, their well-being depends on quality of land and water resources availability. Quality of land is determined by ameliorative indicators: ground water depth level, ground water salt amount and salinity of soil. These factors do not appear naturally but rather due to the human activity. Inefficient irrigation and excessive consumption of irrigation water on irrigated land in Boyavut District of Syrdarya region of Uzbekistan within several decades have led to a salinization of soil. The primary objective of this article is determination of the level of salinity of soil for modelling spatial distribution of soil salinity throughout an irrigated land by using GIS technology. This technology is focused on automation of development and creation of ameliorative maps, while totally eliminating manual operations. Nowadays, ameliorative expedition specialists still create cadastral map using tracing paper over the marginal areas within irrigated lands based on their ameliorative conditions and by selecting from the three thematic maps and then selecting the poorest conditions of ameliorative indicators. The suggested technology is designed for professionals of cadastral subdivisions of regional ameliorative expeditions, who use the GIS-based software, such as ArcView 3.2. or ArcGIS 10x; their duties include creating of thematic maps based on salinity levels of irrigated lands. Exact coordinates of collection sites of soils samples (collected in 2018-2019) were determined using GPS. The Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) interpolation method was applied to use that data to create ameliorative maps categorized by the salinity levels (non-saline, slightly saline, saline area and highly saline areas). Those maps were then analysed to develop procedures on how to improve ameliorative conditions of irrigated areas.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document