Evaluation of boreal plant and microbe communities on tailings solvent recovery unit (TSRU) tailings: A meso-scale greenhouse study

IF 8.1 2区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Chemosphere Pub Date : 2025-08-30 DOI:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2025.144662

Dani Degenhardt , Angeline Van Dongen , Amy-lynne Balaberda , Dennis A. Escolástico-Ortiz , Christine Martineau

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Abstract

Surface mining and bitumen extraction in Alberta’s oil sands generates various tailings waste streams as by-products. Among these tailings, froth treatment tailings (FTT), originating from the froth treatment process, are particularly complex due to high levels of iron sulfide minerals (i.e. pyrite) with acid mine drainage (AMD) potential. Paraffinic FTT that are passed through a Tailings Solvent Recovery Unit (TSRU) to recover residual solvent are referred to as TSRU tailings. This study evaluated the ability of TSRU tailings to support upland and wetland vegetation under various thin capping designs using peat mineral soil mix (PMM) and coarse sand tailings (CST). A 30 cm PMM cover cap successfully supported upland and wetland vegetation for three years, while a thicker, multi-layer cap of 30 cm PMM above 20 cm of CST further improved plant survival and growth. The cap was found to effectively act as a barrier, protecting the vegetation from the adverse effects of pyrite oxidation in the TSRU tailings. While the TSRU tailings acidified (pH ≤ 2) under all capping treatments, the thickest cap (30 cm PMM/20 cm CST) delayed acidification by one year. TSRU and CST had low microbial biomass and diversity, with bacterial communities mostly composed of sulfur oxidizers and acidophilic taxa. In contrast, the PMM layer maintained a higher microbial biomass, diversity, and stability across all treatments, highlighting its potential to enhance plant-microbe interactions and improve the reclamation success of TSRU tailings.

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尾矿溶剂回收装置（TSRU）尾矿上北方植物和微生物群落的评价：中尺度温室研究

艾伯塔省油砂的露天开采和沥青提取会产生各种尾矿废物流作为副产品。在这些尾矿中，泡沫处理尾矿（FTT）由于其含有高浓度的硫化铁矿物（即黄铁矿），具有酸性矿山排水（AMD）的潜力，因此泡沫处理尾矿（FTT）特别复杂。经过尾矿溶剂回收装置（TSRU）回收残余溶剂的石蜡FTT称为TSRU尾矿。本研究以泥炭矿土混合料（PMM）和粗砂尾砂（CST）为覆盖层，评价了不同薄盖设计下TSRU尾砂对高原和湿地植被的支撑能力。一个30厘米的PMM覆盖帽成功地支撑了3年的旱地和湿地植被，而在20厘米的CST上方，一个更厚的30厘米PMM多层覆盖帽进一步改善了植物的生存和生长。盖层可以有效地起到屏障作用，保护植被免受TSRU尾矿中黄铁矿氧化的不利影响。在所有封盖处理下，TSRU尾矿酸化（pH≤2），最厚封盖（30 cm PMM/20 cm CST）延迟酸化1年。TSRU和CST微生物生物量和多样性较低，细菌群落以硫氧化剂和嗜酸类群为主。相比之下，PMM层在所有处理下都保持了较高的微生物生物量、多样性和稳定性，这表明其具有增强植物-微生物相互作用和提高TSRU尾矿回收成功率的潜力。

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来源期刊

Chemosphere 环境科学-环境科学

CiteScore

15.80

自引率

8.00%

发文量

4975

审稿时长

3.4 months

期刊介绍： Chemosphere, being an international multidisciplinary journal, is dedicated to publishing original communications and review articles on chemicals in the environment. The scope covers a wide range of topics, including the identification, quantification, behavior, fate, toxicology, treatment, and remediation of chemicals in the bio-, hydro-, litho-, and atmosphere, ensuring the broad dissemination of research in this field.