Isotopic Analyses Fingerprint Sources of Polycyclic Aromatic Compound-Bearing Dust in Athabasca Oil Sands Region Snowpack
Jason M. E. Ahad, Hooshang Pakdel, Thibault Labarre, Colin A. Cooke, P Gammon, Martine M. Savard
Abstract
H could discriminate petcoke from oil sand, and determined that petcoke comprised between 44 and 95% (95% credibility intervals) of a C1-Phen isomer at lakes <25 km from the heart of the mining operations, making it by far the most abundant source. This study is the first to demonstrate the potential of CSIA to provide accurate PAC source apportionment in snowpack and reveals that petcoke rather than oil sand is the main source of mining-related particulate PACs deposited directly to AOSR lakes.
Topics & Concepts
Oil sandsSnowpackEnvironmental scienceEnvironmental chemistrySnowGeologyChemistryAsphaltArchaeologyGeographyGeomorphologyIsotope Analysis in EcologyGeology and Paleoclimatology ResearchAtmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics