Reclamation An Athabasca Oil Sands, Alberta, Canada story
Forests
Mining
Natural Disasters
The mining companies are required to restore the disturbed land to be at least as productive as it was before it was mined. Overburden that was removed for surface mining is replaced on top of the sand and sediment layer. Mining companies must ensure the overburden is not contaminated during the storage period.
Native species are then planted, such as white spruce, aspen, dogwood, and blueberry.
For example, a location called Wapisiw Lookout was a tailings pond from 1967 to 1997. The image series shows it later filled in by 2009, and then green by 2011.
In the Sentinel-2 image provided for this series, the 20-meter resolution allows the bench pattern in the open pits to be visible, especially in the pit in the upper left corner of the image. Click on that image and enlarge it to get the full effect.
Data from satellites such as Landsat and Sentinel-2 continue to monitor the mining and reclamation of the Athabasca region. The frequent repeat cycle of these satellites—8 days for Landsat and 10 days for Sentinel—ensures that the land can be observed as it changes.
Location
Aug. 6, 1989, Landsat 5 (path/row 42/20) — mining and reclamation, Athabasca Oil Sands, Alberta, Canada
Aug. 17, 1993, Landsat 5 (path/row 42/20) — mining and reclamation, Athabasca Oil Sands, Alberta, Canada
June 15, 1999, Landsat 5 (path/row 42/20) — mining and reclamation, Athabasca Oil Sands, Alberta, Canada
Sep. 11, 2002, Landsat 5 (path/row 42/20) — mining and reclamation, Athabasca Oil Sands, Alberta, Canada
June 28, 2004, Landsat 5 (path/row 42/20) — mining and reclamation, Athabasca Oil Sands, Alberta, Canada
July 4, 2006, Landsat 5 (path/row 42/20) — mining and reclamation, Athabasca Oil Sands, Alberta, Canada
Sep. 14, 2009, Landsat 5 (path/row 42/20) — mining and reclamation, Athabasca Oil Sands, Alberta, Canada
Sep. 20, 2011, Landsat 5 (path/row 42/20) — mining and reclamation, Athabasca Oil Sands, Alberta, Canada
Sep. 28, 2014, Landsat 8 (path/row 42/20) — mining and reclamation, Athabasca Oil Sands, Alberta, Canada
July 15, 2016, Landsat 8 (path/row 42/20) — mining and reclamation, Athabasca Oil Sands, Alberta, Canada
July 15, 2016, Landsat 8 (path/row 42/20) — mining and reclamation, Athabasca Oil Sands, Alberta, Canada
Sep. 29, 2016, Sentinel-2 — mining and reclamation, Athabasca Oil Sands, Alberta, Canada
Athabasca Oil Sands, Alberta, Canada Additional Imagery & Stories
Bitumen
The oil type mined in the Athabasca oil sands region is bitumen. This naturally occurring oil is so viscous that even at room temperature it acts like...
Fire
You might have noticed that fire scars of varying size show up in some of these images. These fire scars show up as red or maroon against the green ve...
In Situ Mining
To extract oil that is too deep for surface mining operations, in situ mining, or “in place” mining, is used. Mining companies use steam and gravity t...
Mining Operations
Getting oil from oil sands is fairly straight-forward. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. In the Athabasca region near Fort McMurray, the oil sands are ...