Temporary drilling pads from oil sands exploration require microtopography for restoration

• Author(s) / Creator(s)

  • Lieffers, V.
  • Caners, R.

• In situ oil sands exploration (OSE) requires the creation of temporary drilling pads, which are often located in peatlands. These pads are created by removing trees and blading the fen surface, leaving windrows of peat along the pad edges; the pad is then frozen-in to create a level surface. However, once abandoned, these pads often fail to regenerate and can become flooded during the growing season. This research examined differences in vegetation and microtopography between OSE pads and undisturbed peatland, and provides possible solutions to help improve regeneration on these challenging sites.

• Date created

  2015-03-04

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Oil sands exploration pads
  • Peatland restoration
  • Reclamation of land--Alberta

• Type of Item

  Research Material

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3BC3SX5X

• License

  Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International