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Isotopic and chemical assessment of the dynamics of methane sources and microbial cycling during early development of an oil sands pit lake

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dc.contributor.authorSlater, Greg
dc.contributor.authorGoad, Corey A.
dc.contributor.authorLindsay, Matthew
dc.contributor.authorMumford, Kevin G.
dc.contributor.authorColenbrander Nelson, Tara E.
dc.contributor.authorBrady, Allyson
dc.contributor.authorJessen, Gerdhard L.
dc.contributor.authorWarren, Lesley
dc.date.accessioned2022-09-27T21:07:51Z
dc.date.available2022-09-27T21:07:51Z
dc.date.issued2021-12-03
dc.descriptionCopyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).en_US
dc.description.abstractWater-capped tailings technology (WCTT) is a key component of the reclamation strategies in the Athabasca oil sands region (AOSR) of northeastern Alberta, Canada. The release of microbial methane from tailings emplaced within oil sands pit lakes, and its subsequent microbial oxidation, could inhibit the development of persistent oxygen concentrations within the water column, which are critical to the success of this reclamation approach. Here, we describe the results of a four-year (2015–2018) chemical and isotopic (δ13C) investigation into the dynamics of microbial methane cycling within Base Mine Lake (BML), the first full-scale pit lake commissioned in the AOSR. Overall, the water-column methane concentrations decreased over the course of the study, though this was dynamic both seasonally and annually. Phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) distributions and δ13C demonstrated that dissolved methane, primarily input via fluid fine tailings (FFT) porewater advection, was oxidized by the water column microbial community at all sampling times. Modeling and under-ice observations indicated that the dissolution of methane from bubbles during ebullition, or when trapped beneath ice, was also an important source of dissolved methane. The addition of alum to BML in the fall of 2016 impacted the microbial cycling in BML, leading to decreased methane oxidation rates, the short-term dominance of a phototrophic community, and longer-term shifts in the microbial community metabolism. Overall, our results highlight a need to understand the dynamic nature of these microbial communities and the impact of perturbations on the associated biogeochemical cycling within oil sands pit lakes.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipNSERC (CRDPJ 488301-15) and COSIA; FONDECYT, Grant 11191138 (ANID Chile); COPAS COASTAL ANID, FB210021en_US
dc.description.versionPeer Revieweden_US
dc.identifier.citationSlater, G.F., Goad, C. A., Lindsay, M. B. J., Mumford, K. G., Colenbrander Nelson, T. E., Brady, A. L., Jessen, G. L. & Warren, L. A. (2021). Isotopic and chemical assessment of the dynamics of methane sources and microbial cycling during early development of an oil sands pit lake. Microorganisms (Basel), 9(12), 2509. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9122509en_US
dc.identifier.doi10.3390/microorganisms9122509
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10388/14234
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherMDPIen_US
dc.subjectpit lakesen_US
dc.subjectoil sandsen_US
dc.subjecttailing reclamationen_US
dc.subjectmethaneen_US
dc.subjectmethanotrophyen_US
dc.subjectphospholipid fatty acidsen_US
dc.subjectcarbon isotopesen_US
dc.subjectebullitionen_US
dc.titleIsotopic and chemical assessment of the dynamics of methane sources and microbial cycling during early development of an oil sands pit lakeen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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