Integrated analysis of petroleum biomarkers and polycyclic aromatic compounds in lake sediment cores from an oil sands region ...

• Main Authors: Salat, Alexandre P J, Eickmeyer, David C, Kimpe, Linda E, Hall, Roland I, Wolfe, Brent B, Mundy, Lukas J, Trudeau, Vance L, Blais, Jules M
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: My University 2021
• Subjects: Bitumen; Embarras Breakthrough; Oil sands monitoring; Paleolimnology; Peace-Athabasca Delta; Alberta; Biomarkers; Environmental Monitoring; Geologic Sediments; Lakes; Oil and Gas Fields; Petroleum; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; Polycyclic Compounds; Water Pollutants, Chemical; Athabasca River; Canada; Embarras; Saline Lake
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.20381/ruor-29183; https://ruor.uottawa.ca/handle/10393/44977

We examined polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) and petroleum biomarkers (steranes, hopanes, and terpanes) in radiometrically-dated lake sediment cores from the Athabasca oil sands region (AOSR) and the Peace-Athabasca Delta (PAD) region in Alberta (Canada) to determine whether contributions from petroleum hydrocarbons have changed over time. Two floodplain lakes in the PAD (PAD 30, PAD 31) recorded increased flux of alkylated PACs and increased petrogenic (petroleum-derived) hydrocarbons after ∼1980, coincident with a decline of sediment organic carbon content and a rise of bulk sedimentation rate, likely due to increased Athabasca River flow. A large expansion of upstream oilsands mining, upgrading, and refining may also have contributed to the observed shift to more petrogenic hydrocarbons to sediments since the 1980s. Alkylated PAC flux increased in the floodplain lake analyzed within the AOSR (Saline Lake) since the 1970s-1980s, coincident with a sharp rise in sediment organic carbon content and ...