Evidence of discharging saline formation water to the Athabasca River in the oil sands mining region, northern Alberta

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
• Main Authors: Gibson, J.J., Fennell, J., Birks, S.J., Yi, Y., Moncur, M.C., Hansen, B., Jasechko, S.
• Other Authors: Barbecot, Florent
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 2013
• Subjects: Athabasca River; Canada; Clearwater River; Firebag River; Fort McMurray
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2013-0027; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjes-2013-0027; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjes-2013-0027

This paper summarizes various lines of evidence, including new geophysical and geochemical surveys indicating the discharge of naturally occurring saline formation water from Cretaceous and Devonian formations to the Athabasca River downstream of Fort McMurray — an active oil sands extraction area....