Geophysical Characterization of an Undrained Oil Sands Tailings Pond Dyke Alberta, Canada

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atmire.migration.oldid2499
dc.contributor.advisorBentley, Laurence
dc.contributor.authorBooterbaugh, Aaron
dc.date.accessioned2014-09-23T21:12:57Z
dc.date.available2014-11-17T08:00:47Z
dc.date.issued2014-09-23
dc.date.submitted2014en
dc.description.abstractGeophysical characterization of an undrained oil sands tailings pond dyke was conducted at Syncrude Canada’s Southwest Sand Storage Facility (SWSS). Push tool conductivity (PTC), electromagnetic (EM), and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) methods in conjunction with hydrogeological and chemistry measurements were used to investigate soil moisture, hydraulic head, and groundwater salinity distributions. Normalization and calibration procedures were conducted on EM data to build statistically consistent maps between survey years. An Archie’s Law petrophysical model was utilized to relate measured bulk conductivity, from geophysical surveying, with measures of soil moisture and fluid electrical conductivity. It was found that a relatively strong relationship between bulk electrical conductivity and soil moisture exists, while weak to no correlation was observed between bulk and fluid electrical conductivity. ERT surveying was capable of clearly identifying the location of the water table within the dyke. This study provides a unique look into the application of geophysical techniques to investigate soil moisture, hydraulic head, and salt distribution in an active undrained tailings dam structure.en_US
dc.identifier.citationBooterbaugh, A. (2014). Geophysical Characterization of an Undrained Oil Sands Tailings Pond Dyke Alberta, Canada (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/26292en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/26292
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11023/1788
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisher.facultyGraduate Studies
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.publisher.placeCalgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subjectGeophysics
dc.subject.classificationGeophysicsen_US
dc.subject.classificationTailingsen_US
dc.subject.classificationOilen_US
dc.subject.classificationSalinityen_US
dc.subject.classificationresistivityen_US
dc.subject.classificationElectromagneticen_US
dc.subject.classificationmoistureen_US
dc.titleGeophysical Characterization of an Undrained Oil Sands Tailings Pond Dyke Alberta, Canada
dc.typemaster thesis
thesis.degree.disciplineGeoscience
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgary
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Science (MSc)
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrue
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