CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Author : French, H.M. ; and Smith, M.W.
Date : 1981
Title : Sump studies II - Geothermal disturbances in permafrost terrain adjacent to Arctic oil and gas wellsites
Publication : Environmental studies - Canada. Dept. of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Issue : 14.
Page(s) : 61 p.
Abstract
Two sumps, one at the Panarctic Bent Horn 1-01 wellsite on Cameron Island and the other at the Gulf Ogruknang M-31 wellsite in the Caribou Hills were instrumented during the 1976-77 winter to monitor geothermal conditions in the enclosing permafrost. Numerical simulation based upon observed field data is used to predict geothermal changes. Bent Horn 1-01 was a one season winter drilling operation; Ogruknang M-31 was a two season winter drilling operation in which the sump was left open during summer and infilled during the second winter. At 1-01 sparse data indicate that sump fluids froze virtually instantaneously upon entering the sump and have remained frozen after site restoration. At M-31 the sump fluids were not completely frozen at the time of infilling. At both sides, permafrost temperatures beneath the sump rose significantly during the period of well drilling. Data from M-31 indicate (a) temperatures at a depth of 0.5 m below thesump floor rose rapidly from -14 to -4 degrees C during the early stages of sump use and then rose slowly to -0.5 degrees C by mid September 1977, (b) thawing of permafrost during the summer of 1977 was restricted to the sump walls, (c) at a depth of 2.5 m below the sump floor geothermal disturbances became minimal, and (d) by July 1978, temperatures at a depth of 2.0 m below the sump floor had achieved a quasi-equilibrium of -1 to -2 degrees C. These data suggest that the use of below ground sumps to contain waste drilling fluids at the two localities described does not lead to permafrost degradation, and that s
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology