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Microbial Communities Utilizing Hydrocarbons and Lipids: Members, Metagenomics and Ecophysiology pp 1–33Cite as

Microbial Communities in Oil Sands Tailings: Their Implications in Biogeochemical Processes and Tailings Management

  • Living reference work entry
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Part of the book series: Handbook of Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology ((HHLM))

Abstract

Bitumen extraction from surface-mined oil sands ores at a gigantic scale produces enormous volumes of fluid fine tailings (FFT) as a waste that are deposited in oil sands tailings ponds (OSTP). Increasing footprint of OSTP and related environmental consequences have drawn public scrutiny and warrant effective management of FFT. OSTP harbor diverse microbial communities that drive many biogeochemical processes in OSTP. In this chapter, we describe the microbial pathways of methanogenesis, and sulfur, nitrogen, and iron transformations in tailings that mitigate toxicity of organic constituents through biodegradation, accelerate consolidation of FFT, and regulate greenhouse gas emissions from OSTP. These microbial processes can also affect FFT reclamation under end-pit-lake (wet) scenario. Understanding microbial and geochemical composition of tailings will help design better strategies for utilizing tailings products for upland (dry) reclamation as well.

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Acknowledgments

The authors greatly acknowledge the Helmholtz-Alberta Initiative, NSERC, Canada Foundation for Innovation, Alberta Innovates Energy and Environment Solutions, the Institute for Oil Sands Innovation, Syncrude Canada Ltd. Shell Albian Sands, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Suncor Energy, and Total E&P Canada for research funding, resource materials and research infrastructure. We thank our many research leaders, collaborators, and co-authors, including Julia Foght, Phil Fedorak, Rejendar Gupta, Ania Ulrich, Christopher Weisener and Camilla Nesbø; industry advisors, particularly Mike MacKinnon and Tara Penner (Syncrude); André Sobolewski (Microbial Technologies) for providing insight and information from early studies; and Zvonko Burkus (Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development) for valuable discussions. Finally, we gratefully acknowledge the contributions of Kathy Semple, Alsu Kuznetsova, Petr Kuznetsov, Carmen Li, Matthias Koschorreck and invaluable laboratory members too numerous to list who have been essential to the authors’ oil sands research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    Tariq Siddique & Mohd Faidz Mohamad Shahimin

  2. Department of Lake Research, UFZ – Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Magdeburg, Germany

    Sebastian Stasik & Katrin Wendt-Potthoff

  3. Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität, Dresden, Germany

    Sebastian Stasik

  4. Department of Chemical Engineering Technology, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Padang Besar, Perlis, Malaysia

    Mohd Faidz Mohamad Shahimin

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  1. Tariq Siddique
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  2. Sebastian Stasik
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  3. Mohd Faidz Mohamad Shahimin
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  4. Katrin Wendt-Potthoff
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Correspondence to Tariq Siddique .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Essex, School of Biological Sciences University of Essex, Colchester, Essex, UK

    Terry J. McGenity

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Siddique, T., Stasik, S., Mohamad Shahimin, M.F., Wendt-Potthoff, K. (2018). Microbial Communities in Oil Sands Tailings: Their Implications in Biogeochemical Processes and Tailings Management. In: McGenity, T. (eds) Microbial Communities Utilizing Hydrocarbons and Lipids: Members, Metagenomics and Ecophysiology . Handbook of Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60063-5_10-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60063-5_10-1

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