Earth and Environmental Sciences
This is the collection for the University of Waterloo's Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences .
Research outputs are organized by type (eg. Master Thesis, Article, Conference Paper).
Waterloo faculty, students, and staff can contact us or visit the UWSpace guide to learn more about depositing their research.
Recent deposits
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Global Study of Tailings Dam Failures by Statistical and Remote Sensing Methods
(University of Waterloo, 2023-04-26)The growth of the mining industry, mainly driven by increased resource demands, has accelerated the production and storage of mine waste. Tailings comprise the fine-grained fraction of this waste. Due to their intrinsically ... -
Natural source zone depletion of petroleum hydrocarbons under variable temperature and moisture conditions
(University of Waterloo, 2023-02-15)In subsurface environments contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs), the steep geochemical and redox gradients near the water table, the oxygen availability, moisture content, salinity, pH, nutrient concentrations and ... -
Evaluation of Hydraulic Conductivity Collected by Various Approaches at a Highly Heterogeneous Field Site
(University of Waterloo, 2023-01-27)Significant research efforts have been conducted over the last several decades to better understand the groundwater flow and subsurface contaminant transport. It has been found that building a groundwater model for remediation ... -
Modelling Legacy Nitrogen Dynamics in the Transboundary Lake Erie Watershed
(University of Waterloo, 2023-01-26)Lake Erie is a source of drinking water, recreation, and commercial opportunity for both the United States and Canada, making the protection of its water quality essential. In the past decades, Lake Erie's ecosystems ... -
Sequential Extraction of Trace Metals as Geochemical Indicators of Land Use Near Ancient Metallurgical Sites in Faynan, Jordan
(University of Waterloo, 2023-01-23)Civilizations are tied to soils through a reliance on agriculture. In the Faynan Valley, southern Jordan, both the individuals who tend to the soils and the soils themselves have evolved through a series of environmental ... -
Characterizing and Modelling Tailings Hydrogeochemistry Under a Composite Cover at the Abandoned Kam Kotia Mine, ON
(University of Waterloo, 2023-01-09)A principal environmental concern associated with mining is the weathering of mine waste in the presence of oxygen and water that generates acid mine drainage (AMD) concentrated in toxic elements. Installation of composite ... -
Impacts of Dredging and Brush Cutting of Paired Agricultural Drainage Ditches on GHG Emissions and Nutrient Filtration Capacity
(University of Waterloo, 2023-01-04)Agriculture provides many beneficial and essential ecosystem services. Along with these beneficial services, the conversion of natural ecosystems into heavily modified agricultural ecosystems is also a source of ... -
PETROLOGY, TECTONIC SETTING, AND REGIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE OPHIOLITIC LIUYUAN COMPLEX, NW CHINA
(University of Waterloo, 2023-01-03)Located along the southern margin of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB), the mafic 290-280 Ma Liuyuan Complex stratigraphy and tectonic setting have been controversial for decades. Here, the results of a detailed field ... -
Early Paleozoic Ocean Redox Dynamics: Perspectives from Uranium Isotopes of Sedimentary Rocks
(University of Waterloo, 2022-11-23)The trajectory of global ocean oxygenation could have greatly influenced the metazoan evolutions because O2 could provide valuable energy to support biological activities. Remarkable metazoan diversifications occurred ... -
Quantifying the Effects of Water Management Decisions on Streambank Stability
(University of Waterloo, 2022-09-30)Streams continuously change due to natural processes and human activities, significantly affecting streambank erosion and stability. These changes cause severe environmental issues, including sedimentation of reservoirs, ... -
A ca. 273-261 Ma multi-component arc pluton in the southern area of the Beishan Orogenic Collage, NW China: a geochronological, geochemical, and petrogenetic analysis
(University of Waterloo, 2022-09-29)Along the southern edge of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt lies the Beishan Orogenic Collage, bridging the Tianshan Orogen (west) to the Mongolia-Xing’anling Orogen (east). The Beishan Orogenic Collage is thought to represent ... -
Field derived phosphorus accumulation rates and fractionation in bioretention cells
(University of Waterloo, 2022-09-23)Bioretention cells are commonly used green infrastructure in urban stormwater management systems. They show promising performance in managing stormwater and mitigating a multitude of pollutants. In urban catchments, they ... -
Transport and Retention of Particulate Organic Matter in Riverbed Sediments: Laboratory Experiments and Modelling
(University of Waterloo, 2022-09-22)Infiltration of river water into riverbeds can deliver particulate organic matter (POM: the remains of plants, algae, and other life), which has an important role for transforming nutrients in watersheds. Once POM is ... -
Tectonic Stresses and Injection-Induced Fault Slip Assessment
(University of Waterloo, 2022-09-14)Understanding the Earth's stress state at depth is fundamental to a wide variety of subsurface projects, ranging from seismology projects to studies on underground energy storage or extraction. The primary objectives of ... -
Integration of non-traditional stable isotopes and synchrotron measurements
(University of Waterloo, 2022-08-31)Selenium is well named after the moon, because statements about this element must often be qualified, making it feel ever changing; for instance, Se is a nutrient, but an excess of 400 µg per day is toxic for humans. High ... -
Oxidation characteristics, acid neutralization, secondary minerals, and trace elements associated with pyrrhotite oxidation in historical waste rock
(University of Waterloo, 2022-07-27)The Detour Lake Mine is an open pit, greenstone-hosted gold mine in Ontario, Canada. Mining produced waste-rock piles that were constructed from 1983 – 1999. Redevelopment and expansion of the open pit required the excavation ... -
Petrogenesis of Archean granitoids: Insights from inverse and forward modelling
(University of Waterloo, 2022-06-24)Archean granitoids are the earliest representation of continental crust on Earth. The Archean geological record is dominated by rocks of the tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite (TTG) suite, which are thought to have formed ... -
Photosphere Tour Guide
(University of Waterloo, 2021-08-20)This document serves as a comprehensive guide for creating and implementing Virtual Reality (VR) into education at the post-secondary level, as well as recommendations for integrating course learning objectives in Virtual ... -
Ice Flow Shift, Drumlin, and Bedrock Topography Effects on Glacial Dispersal from Kimberlites in the Lac de Gras Region, Northwest Territories, Canada
(University of Waterloo, 2022-05-20)Glaciations of the Quaternary Period have had a profound impact on the Canadian landscape and surficial sediments. Understanding glacial landforms and sediments has thus helped develop fundamental knowledge of past glaciations ... -
Source and Fate of Contaminants in a Pit Lake and Water Treatment at the Faro Mine Complex
(University of Waterloo, 2022-05-20)The Faro Mine Complex (FMC) is an abandoned zinc-lead mine in Yukon, Canada that requires extensive remediation efforts to manage the environmental liabilities associated with mine wastes stockpiled at the site. Active ...