Impacts of surface water infiltration through soil cover capping systems

采矿业务对加拿大经济做出了重大贡献，但也对环境产生了影响。尾矿是采矿活动中无法使用的副产品，需要在采矿作业期间和之后进行储存和处理。在试图将土地恢复到原始状态（也称为复垦活动）时，采矿作业将利用土壤覆盖层将尾矿沉积物纳入其土地复垦战略。然而，为了创造最佳的条件，在开垦的土地上种植植被，工程师需要考虑该地区的水文地质和降水将如何与土壤cover.The拟议的研究旨在预测地表水（从融雪或降水）的影响时，它泄漏（渗透）通过土壤覆盖系统的废石在加拿大的气候。该研究的目标是帮助行业合作伙伴（BGC工程公司）更好地了解冻融条件下饱和/非饱和土壤覆盖剖面的热质传递机理，从而改进土壤覆盖系统的设计方法。拟议的研究还将包括研究地表水渗透对永久冻土区地温条件的热影响。拟议的研究将有助于制定受采矿作业影响的土地复垦战略，包括阿尔伯塔的油砂工业。这项研究很有可能扩展到加拿大和国际上的其他矿场。

Mining operations contribute significantly to Canada's economy, but also impact the environment. Tailings are the unusable by-products of mining activities that require storage and treatment during and after mine operations. When trying to restore land to its original state (also called, reclamation activities), mining operations will use soil covers to integrate tailings deposits into their land reclamation strategies. However, to create optimal conditions for growing vegetation on the reclaimed land, engineers need to consider the hydrogeology of the area and how precipitation will interact with the soil cover.The proposed research aims to predict the effects of surface water (from snowmelt or precipitation) when it leaks (infiltrates) through soil cover capping systems for waste rock in Canadian climates. The goal of the research is to help the industry partner (BGC Engineering Inc.) gain a better understanding of the mechanisms of heat and mass transfer in saturated/unsaturated soil cover profiles during freezing and thawing conditions, and thus improve the design methods for soil cover systems. The proposed research will also include the study of the thermal impacts of surface water infiltration on the ground temperature conditions for permafrost regions.The proposed research will help develop reclamation strategies for lands disturbed by mining operations, including the oil sands industry in Alberta. This research has high potential to be expanded to other mine sites in Canada and internationally.