Rebuttal to “Effect of seasonable weather variations on the desiccation behavior of treated oil sand fine tailings” by Owolagba and Azam (Environ Earth Sci 2015, 74(2): 1711–1717)

Abstract

A series of numerical simulations was carried out by Owolagba and Azam (Environmental Earth Sciences 2015, 74(2):1711–1717) on the desiccation behavior of treated oil sand fine tailings under seasonal weather variations, particularly subjected to freezing and thawing in winter. Based on the numerical simulation results, the desiccation behavior of the treated oil sand fine tailings is obtained and thus our understanding is improved. The simulation results include the development of the degree of saturation, total suction, solid content and settling potential under seasonal weather variations. It should be noted that the simulated results show that the water content of sand tailings near surface increases during the early winter (September–December), but decreases during the late winter (January–March). However, such simulations seem to be inconsistent, in the authors’ opinion, with the field monitoring data in the same region, i.e. Alberta, Canadia, by Christensen et al. (Can J Soil Sci 93(4):497–510, 2013). We feel that a discussion with the authors can improve our understanding of the change of water content of soil during winter.