Talk:Athabasca oil sands

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Athabasca oil sands article. This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject.

Put new text under old text. Click here to start a new topic. New to Wikipedia? Welcome! Learn to edit; get help. Assume good faith Be polite and avoid personal attacks Be welcoming to newcomers Seek dispute resolution if needed Article policies Neutral point of view No original research Verifiability

Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL

Archives: 1, 2Auto-archiving period: 90 days

This article is rated B-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects:

Canada: Alberta / Geography Mid‑importance Mid This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale. This article is supported by WikiProject Alberta. This article is supported by WikiProject Geography of Canada. Energy Mid‑importance This article is within the scope of WikiProject Energy, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Energy on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.EnergyWikipedia:WikiProject EnergyTemplate:WikiProject Energyenergy articles Mid This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.

Text has been copied to or from this article; see the list below. The source pages now serve to provide attribution for the content in the destination pages and must not be deleted as long as the copies exist. For attribution and to access older versions of the copied text, please see the history links below. Copied Oil sands (history) → Athabasca oil sands (diff) on 2014-04-14 Copied Oil sands (history) → Athabasca oil sands (diff) on 2014-11-27

This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Peer reviewers: Keg11.

Above undated message substituted from

This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Hannahtaanderson. Peer reviewers: KristinaRan, PatJardine.

Above undated message substituted from

Given the discussion about "oil sand" versus "tar sand," I did 4 keyword searches using these terms on the American Geological Institute, international geological databse known as GEOREF.

The results were:

• oil sands and Alberta - 2,003 citations, still in use
• oil sands and Athabasca - 1,167 citations, still in use

• tar sands and Alberta - 202 citations, still in use
• tar sands and Athabasca - 201 citations, still in use

Both oil sands and tar sands are in current use. However, oil sands is the preferred terminology by about 10 to 1 in the scientific literature indexed by GEOREF.

Also, I looked at both terms in:

Neuendorf, K.K.E., J.P. Mehl, Jr., and J.A. Jackson, eds. (2005) Glossary of Geology (5th ed.). Alexandria, Virginia, American Geological Institute. 779 pp. ISBN 0-922152-76-4.

Both are listed as accepted geologic terms. Tar sand is defined as a type of oil sand in which the lighter fractions of crude oil have escaped, leaving a residual asphalt filling the pore space of the sand. Oil sand is defined as a term that is applied loosely to any porous stratum, specifically a sandstone or unconsolidated sand, containing petroleum or impregnated with hydrocarbons It seems that both terms are perfectly good terms and, at least, as far as geologists go there is nothing derogatory about the term tar sands. It is just that papers discussing to these hydrocarbon deposits favor oil sands over tar sands. Paul H. (talk) 17:56, 3 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]

• @Paul H.: Interesting. It would be instructive see a similar comparison within the environmental advocacy literature, though I think it obvious the ratio will be very different. It is that difference which shows the polarization of the terminology.LeadSongDog come howl! 18:34, 24 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion:

• People's Climate March 2017 in Washington DC 40 (cropped).jpg

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 22:41, 7 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Following some bold edits the 2020 maintenace tag will be removed.Oceanflynn (talk) 23:47, 6 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Suggested edit in an effort to shorten article in general:

"When Cree trader Wa-pa-su brought a bitumen sample to Hudson's Bay Company post in 1719, the Athabasca oil sands came to the attention of European fur traders active in that region. Peter Pond explored the area in 1778, followed by Alexander Mackenzie in 1788 and others. John Richardson conducted the first scientific assessment in 1848, with government-sponsored surveys beginning in 1875. In 1888, Robert Bell suggested the presence of extensive petroleum fields. Count Alfred von Hammerstein promoted the oil sands from 1897 onwards. In 1926, Karl Clark patented a hot water separation process, laying the groundwork for modern extraction techniques."

RS to be added where needed based on existing text.Oceanflynn (talk)

With potential sections:

• Introduction or Overview,
• Geology and formation,
• Extraction and processing,
• Environmental and social impacts,
• Economic importance,
• Future outlook

Existing sections as of 6 January 2024:

• Lead
• History
  • History subsection
• Oil sands production in the 21st century
  • Oil sands production in the 21st century subsection
• Future production
• Governance
• Development
• Bitumen extraction
  • Bitumen extraction subsection
• Environmental impacts
  • Environmental impacts subsection
• Population
• Estimated oil reserves
• Economics
• Geopolitical importance
• Indigenous peoples of the area
  • Impact of oil sands and pipeline development on Indigenous groups
• Oil sand companies
• Court ordered sanctions
• See also
• Notes
• References
• Further reading
• Video material

Introduction or Overview

• Lead
• History
  • History subsection
• Oil sands production in the 21st century
  • Oil sands production in the 21st century subsection
• Future production
• Governance
• Development

Geology and Formation

Extraction and Processing

• Bitumen extraction
  • Bitumen extraction subsection

Environmental and Social Impacts

• Environmental impacts
  • Environmental impacts subsection
• Population
• Impact of oil sands and pipeline development on Indigenous groups
• Indigenous peoples of the area

Economic Importance

• Economics

Future Outlook

• Geopolitical importance
• Oil sand companies
• Court-ordered sanctions

Oceanflynn (talk) 00:31, 7 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]