Groundwater mixing dynamics at a Canadian Shield mine

Douglas, M.; Clark, Ian D.; Raven, Kenneth G.; Bottomley, D.J.

doi:10.1016/s0022-1694(00)00265-1

Cited by 75 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Underground openings at a gold mine in the Northwest Territories have caused changes to groundwater flow and to the circulation of surface flow to depth (Douglas et al 2000). Placer mining removes deposits associated with stream beds, so this type of mining activity involves water damming and diversion that can influence natural drainage patterns and increase erosion and sedimentation rates (Pentz and Kostaschuk 1999).…”

Section: Water Quantitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts and prognosis of natural resource development on water and wetlands in Canada’s boreal zone

et al. 2015

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Industrial development within Canada's boreal zone has increased in recent decades. Forest management activities, pulp and paper operations, electric power generation, mining, conventional oil and gas extraction, nonconventional oil sand development, and peat mining occur throughout the boreal zone with varying impacts on water resources. We review impacts of these industries on surface water, groundwater, and wetlands recognizing that heterogeneity in the dominance of different hydrologic processes (i.e., precipitation, evapotranspiration, groundwater recharge, and runoff generation) across the boreal zone influences the degree of impacts on water resources. Through the application of best management practices, forest certification programs, and science-based guidelines, timber, pulp and paper, and peat industries have reduced their impacts on water resources, although uncertainties remain about long-term recovery following disturbance. Hydroelectric power developments have moved toward reducing reservoir size and creating more natural flow regimes, although impacts of aging infrastructure and dam decommissioning is largely unknown. Mineral and metal mining industries have improved regulation and practices, but the legacy of abandoned mines across the boreal zone still presents an ongoing risk to water resources. Oil and gas industries, including non-conventional resources such as oil sands, is one of the largest industrial users of water and, while significant progress has been made in reducing water use, more work is needed to ensure the protection of water resources. All industries contribute to atmospheric deposition of pollutants that may eventually be released to downstream waters. Although most industrial sectors strive to improve their environmental performance with regards to water resources, disruptions to natural flow regimes and risks of degraded water quality exist at local to regional scales in the boreal zone. Addressing the emerging challenge of managing the expanding, intensifying, and cumulative effects of industries in conjunction with other stressors, such as climate change and atmospheric pollution, across the landscape will aid in preserving Canada's rich endowment of water resources.Key words: natural resources, development, hydrology, biogeochemistry, cumulative effects, water quality, water quantity. Résumé :Le développement industriel dans la zone boréale canadienne s'est accru au cours des récentes décades. Les activités en aménagement forestier, les opérations dans les pâtes et papiers, la génération de pouvoir électrique, les mines, l'extraction de l'huile et du gaz conventionnel, le développement non conventionnel des sables bitumineux ainsi que le prélèvement de la tourbe s'effectuent sur l'ensemble de la zone boréale avec divers impacts sur les ressources hydriques. Les auteurs passent en revue les impacts de ces industries sur l'eau de surface, l'eau souterraine et les terrains humides, tout en reconnaissant que l'hétérogénéité de la dominance des différents processus ...

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Section: Water Quantitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts and prognosis of natural resource development on water and wetlands in Canada’s boreal zone

et al. 2015

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“…Predicting bulk faultzone petrophysical properties at depth is a key part of de-risking geological applications such as extraction of hydrocarbons, geothermal heat, storage of CO 2 , or radioactive waste (Aydin, 2000;Douglas et al, 2000;Shipton et al, 2004). To predict whether faults act as barriers, baffles or conduits, structural geologists have attempted to develop relationships between key parameters of fault architecture, for example, using throw to predict mean fault thickness (Childs et al, 2007;Shipton et al, 2006), using host rock type and throw to predict faultrock type (Faerseth, 2006), and then using these relationships to predict petrophysical properties.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Along-strike fault core thickness variations of a fault in poorly lithified sediments, Miri (Malaysia)

Rosa

Shipton

Lunn

et al. 2018

Journal of Structural Geology

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This version is available at https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/65335/ Strathprints is designed to allow users to access the research output of the University of Strathclyde. Unless otherwise explicitly stated on the manuscript, Copyright © and Moral Rights for the papers on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. Please check the manuscript for details of any other licences that may have been applied. You may not engage in further distribution of the material for any profitmaking activities or any commercial gain. You may freely distribute both the url (https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/) and the content of this paper for research or private study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge.Any correspondence concerning this service should be sent to the Strathprints administrator: strathprints@strath.ac.ukThe Strathprints institutional repository (https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk) is a digital archive of University of Strathclyde research outputs. It has been developed to disseminate open access research outputs, expose data about those outputs, and enable the management and persistent access to Strathclyde's intellectual output. The degree to which a fault will impede fluid flow is only as great as its most permeable point. Processes that determine areas of the fault surface containing transmissible fault rocks must be utilized to produce reliable predictions of cross-fault fluid flow. We use a study site in Miri, Malaysia, to investigate in detail the fault-core thickness variations along-strike and down dip, and to quantify the risk of discontinuities in the clay-rich fault core. Four fault-core types have been identified: foliated clay-rich fault core, chaotic clay-rich fault core, anastomosing sandy shear zones and sandy breccia. We performed a geostatistical analysis, showing a correlation over 3 m scale, suggesting the presence of 'patches' of thin and thick fault core generally less than 3 m in length in profile.We interpret this geometry as superimposition of two or more different deformation processes at a smaller and a larger scale. We speculate about the processes that could produce the observed distribution of thickness and composition, and in particular, processes that could have disrupted the through-going clay-rich core.

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“…This meltwater was, until recently, considered to be drained only as channel and sheet flow at the ice-bed interface, thus being conceptualized as a source of rapid surface water runoff. Recently, several studies have indicated that significant subglacial meltwater can infiltrate into the subsurface under the ambient ice sheet pressure and therefore becomes stored in the groundwater flow system [e.g., Clark et al, 2000;Douglas et al, 2000;Grasby et al, 2000;Ferguson et al, 2007;Person et al, 2007]. Because of the small pore spaces within the underlying rocks, a relatively small quantity of recharge into the subsurface can considerably raise pore pressures and therefore modifies the groundwater flow field.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamics of groundwater recharge and seepage over the Canadian landscape during the Wisconsinian glaciation

et al. 2008

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[1] Pleistocene glaciations and their associated dramatic climatic conditions are suspected to have had a large impact on the groundwater flow system over the entire North American continent. Because of the myriad of complex flow-related processes involved during a glaciation period, numerical models have become powerful tools for examining groundwater flow system evolution in this context. In this study, a series of key processes pertaining to coupled groundwater flow and glaciation modeling, such as densitydependent (i.e., brine) flow, hydromechanical loading, subglacial infiltration, isostasy, and permafrost development, are included in the numerical model HydroGeoSphere to simulate groundwater flow over the Canadian landscape during the Wisconsinian glaciation ($À120 ka to present). The primary objective is to demonstrate the immense impact of glacial advances and retreats during the Wisconsinian glaciation on the dynamical evolution of groundwater flow systems over the Canadian landscape, including surface-subsurface water exchanges (i.e., recharge and discharge fluxes) in both the subglacial and the periglacial environments. It is shown that much of the infiltration of subglacial meltwater occurs during ice sheet progression and that during ice sheet regression, groundwater mainly exfiltrates on the surface, in both the subglacial and periglacial environments. The average infiltration/exfiltration fluxes range between 0 and 12 mm/a. Using mixed, ice sheet thickness-dependent boundary conditions for the subglacial environment, it was estimated that 15-70% of the meltwater infiltrated into the subsurface as recharge, with an average of 43%. Considering the volume of meltwater that was generated subsequent to the last glacial maximum, these recharge rates, which are related to the bedrock type and elastic properties, are historically significant and therefore played an immense role in the evolution of groundwater flow system evolution over the Canadian landmass over the last 120 ka. Finally, it is shown that the permafrost extent plays a key role in the distribution of surface-subsurface interaction because the presence of permafrost acts as a barrier for groundwater flow.

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Groundwater mixing dynamics at a Canadian Shield mine

Cited by 75 publications

References 22 publications

Impacts and prognosis of natural resource development on water and wetlands in Canada’s boreal zone

Impacts and prognosis of natural resource development on water and wetlands in Canada’s boreal zone

Along-strike fault core thickness variations of a fault in poorly lithified sediments, Miri (Malaysia)

Dynamics of groundwater recharge and seepage over the Canadian landscape during the Wisconsinian glaciation

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