Black & Gold

• • Huge deposit of sand coated in oil
  • The oily part is called bitumen
  • To use the oil, the sand must be separated from the oil and water
• • In Alberta, north of Edmonton
  • Fort McMurray is only city in the oil sands
• • Physical characteristics of the area ( during the Cretaceous period, Alberta was covered by shallow sea waters. Materials like algae and plankton collected on the sea floor. Over millions of years, sedimentary layers formed as more and more material settled on top. These layers were buried deeper under the Earth’s surface. The pressure and heat caused organic materials to eventually turn into hydrocarbons like bitumen.)
  • Boreal Forest
• • Water flows north
  • Lake Athabasca is DOWNSTREAM from Fort McMurray
  • Tar sands impact much larger region
• Wood Buffalo National Park is located downstream from the oil sands
• The one positive part is the economic contribution. The oil sands industry makes a huge amount of revenue, which is nearly 60 billion dollars
• The negative part is the impact on the environment. The extraction and processing causes habitat destruction, water and air pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions, which adds to climate change
•  The resource development impacts Indigenous communities, leading to problems about land rights, cultural heritage, and health impacts.