This report contains a summary of a literature review on hydrocarbons in natural soils.

Regional information, primarily from the Soils Inventory of the Alberta Oil Sands Environmental Research Program Study Area (AOSERP Report 122) (Alberta Environment 1982), was used as a base to provide an overview of bedrock geology, surficial materials, physiographic units, and soils, highlighting areas with reported tar sand in the soils. Results from more recent field studies supplement this original survey to show the regional distribution of tar sand in soils.

Field sheets and summaries of inspection sites for Baseline Soil Surveys of submitted Environmental Impact Assessments were reviewed to identify points where tar sand was encountered in soils. In most cases, tar sand was mentioned but very few samples were taken for hydrocarbon analysis. A total of more than 15 000 inspection sites were reviewed from existing and planned developments, as shown in Figure 1. Data from the Soil and Vegetation Plots was also added to the review.

An accompanying spreadsheet tabulates all inspection sites, GPS coordinates, soil series, and parent materials along with brief comments at sites where tar sand was mentioned. It was evident that in some cases field sheets noted tar sand in the profile, but the comments did not necessarily appear in the published inspection site summaries. Thus, there may be omissions of observed tar sand. Nevertheless, the broad picture shows widespread distribution of shallow tar sand in the oil sands region.