diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index b8a9c76d5..2161343cd 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ members = [
     "kernel/examples/*",
     "test-utils",
     "feature-tests",
+    "mem-test",
     "uc-client", # WIP: this is an experimental UC client for catalog-managed table work
 ]
 # note that in addition to the members above, the workspace includes examples:
diff --git a/mem-test/Cargo.toml b/mem-test/Cargo.toml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..81e3d2724
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mem-test/Cargo.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+[package]
+name = "mem-test"
+edition.workspace = true
+homepage.workspace = true
+keywords.workspace = true
+license.workspace = true
+repository.workspace = true
+readme.workspace = true
+rust-version.workspace = true
+version.workspace = true
+
+# for cargo-release
+[package.metadata.release]
+release = false
+
+[dependencies]
+arrow = "56"
+delta_kernel = { path = "../kernel", features = ["arrow", "default-engine-rustls"] }
+dhat = "0.3"
+object_store = "0.12.3"
+rayon = "1.10"
+serde_json = "1"
+tempfile = "3"
+tracing = "0.1"
+url = "2"
diff --git a/mem-test/src/lib.rs b/mem-test/src/lib.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0221b9195
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mem-test/src/lib.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+//! Memory testing.
+//!
+//! Run all tests with: `cargo test -p mem-test -- --ignored --nocapture`
diff --git a/mem-test/tests/dhat_large_table_data.rs b/mem-test/tests/dhat_large_table_data.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..eabfa09ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mem-test/tests/dhat_large_table_data.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,168 @@
+//! This tests our memory usage for reading tables with large data files.
+//!
+//! run with `cargo test -p mem-test dhat_large_table_data -- --ignored --nocapture`
+
+use std::fs::{create_dir_all, File};
+use std::io::Write;
+use std::path::Path;
+use std::sync::Arc;
+
+use delta_kernel::arrow::array::{ArrayRef, Int64Array, StringArray};
+use delta_kernel::arrow::record_batch::RecordBatch;
+use delta_kernel::engine::arrow_data::ArrowEngineData;
+use delta_kernel::engine::default::executor::tokio::TokioBackgroundExecutor;
+use delta_kernel::engine::default::DefaultEngine;
+use delta_kernel::parquet::arrow::ArrowWriter;
+use delta_kernel::parquet::file::properties::WriterProperties;
+use delta_kernel::Snapshot;
+
+use arrow::compute::filter_record_batch;
+use object_store::local::LocalFileSystem;
+use serde_json::json;
+use tempfile::tempdir;
+use url::Url;
+
+#[global_allocator]
+static ALLOC: dhat::Alloc = dhat::Alloc;
+
+const NUM_ROWS: u64 = 1_000_000;
+
+/// write a 1M row parquet file that is 1GB in size
+fn write_large_parquet_to(path: &Path) -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
+    let path = path.join("1.parquet");
+    let file = File::create(&path)?;
+
+    let i_col = Arc::new(Int64Array::from_iter_values(0..NUM_ROWS as i64)) as ArrayRef;
+    let s_col = (0..NUM_ROWS).map(|i| format!("val_{}_{}", i, "XYZ".repeat(350)));
+    let s_col = Arc::new(StringArray::from_iter_values(s_col)) as ArrayRef;
+    let rb = RecordBatch::try_from_iter(vec![("i", i_col.clone()), ("s", s_col.clone())])?;
+
+    let props = WriterProperties::builder().build();
+    let mut writer = ArrowWriter::try_new(file, rb.schema(), Some(props))?;
+    writer.write(&rb)?;
+    let parquet_metadata = writer.close()?;
+
+    // read to show file sizes
+    let metadata = std::fs::metadata(&path)?;
+    let file_size = metadata.len();
+    let total_row_group_size: i64 = parquet_metadata
+        .row_groups
+        .iter()
+        .map(|rg| rg.total_byte_size)
+        .sum();
+    println!("File size (compressed file size):    {} bytes", file_size);
+    println!(
+        "Total size (uncompressed file size): {} bytes",
+        total_row_group_size
+    );
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+/// create a _delta_log/00000000000000000000.json file with a single add file for our 1.parquet
+/// above
+fn create_commit(path: &Path) -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
+    let delta_log_path = path.join("_delta_log");
+    create_dir_all(&delta_log_path)?;
+    let commit_path = delta_log_path.join("00000000000000000000.json");
+    let mut file = File::create(&commit_path)?;
+
+    let actions = vec![
+        json!({
+            "metaData": {
+                "id": "00000000000000000000",
+                "format": {"provider": "parquet", "options": {}},
+                "schemaString": "{\"type\":\"struct\",\"fields\":[{\"name\":\"i\",\"type\":\"long\",\"nullable\":true,\"metadata\":{}},{\"name\":\"s\",\"type\":\"string\",\"nullable\":true,\"metadata\":{}}]}",
+                "partitionColumns": [],
+                "configuration": {}
+            }
+        }),
+        json!({
+            "protocol": {
+                "minReaderVersion": 1,
+                "minWriterVersion": 1
+            }
+        }),
+        json!({
+            "add": {
+                "path": "1.parquet",
+                "partitionValues": {},
+                "size": 1000000000,
+                "modificationTime": 0,
+                "dataChange": true
+            }
+        }),
+    ];
+
+    for action in actions {
+        writeln!(file, "{}", action)?;
+    }
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+#[ignore = "mem-test - run manually"]
+#[test]
+fn test_dhat_large_table_data() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
+    let dir = tempdir()?;
+    let table_path = dir.path();
+    let _profiler = dhat::Profiler::builder().testing().build();
+
+    // Step 1: Write the large parquet file
+    write_large_parquet_to(table_path)?;
+    let stats = dhat::HeapStats::get();
+    println!("Heap stats after writing parquet:\n{:?}", stats);
+
+    // Step 2: Create the Delta log
+    create_commit(table_path)?;
+
+    // Step 3: Create engine and snapshot
+    let store = Arc::new(LocalFileSystem::new());
+    let url = Url::from_directory_path(table_path).unwrap();
+    let engine = Arc::new(DefaultEngine::new(
+        store,
+        Arc::new(TokioBackgroundExecutor::new()),
+    ));
+
+    let snapshot = Snapshot::builder_for(url)
+        .build(engine.as_ref())
+        .expect("Failed to create snapshot");
+
+    let stats = dhat::HeapStats::get();
+    println!("Heap stats after creating snapshot:\n{:?}", stats);
+
+    // Step 4: Build and execute scan
+    let scan = snapshot
+        .scan_builder()
+        .build()
+        .expect("Failed to build scan");
+
+    let stats = dhat::HeapStats::get();
+    println!("Heap stats after building scan:\n{:?}", stats);
+
+    // Step 5: Execute the scan and read data
+    let mut row_count = 0;
+    for scan_result in scan.execute(engine)? {
+        let scan_result = scan_result?;
+        let mask = scan_result.full_mask();
+        let data = scan_result.raw_data?;
+        let record_batch: RecordBatch = data
+            .into_any()
+            .downcast::<ArrowEngineData>()
+            .map_err(|_| delta_kernel::Error::EngineDataType("ArrowEngineData".to_string()))?
+            .into();
+
+        let batch = if let Some(mask) = mask {
+            filter_record_batch(&record_batch, &mask.into())?
+        } else {
+            record_batch
+        };
+        row_count += batch.num_rows();
+    }
+
+    let stats = dhat::HeapStats::get();
+    println!("Heap stats after scan execution:\n{:?}", stats);
+    println!("Total rows read: {}", row_count);
+
+    Ok(())
+}
diff --git a/mem-test/tests/dhat_large_table_log.rs b/mem-test/tests/dhat_large_table_log.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a1186c8bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mem-test/tests/dhat_large_table_log.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,138 @@
+//! This tests our memory usage for reading tables with large/many log files.
+//!
+//! run with `cargo test -p mem-test dhat_large_table_log -- --ignored --nocapture`
+
+use std::fs::{create_dir_all, File};
+use std::io::Write;
+use std::path::Path;
+use std::sync::Arc;
+
+use delta_kernel::engine::default::executor::tokio::TokioBackgroundExecutor;
+use delta_kernel::engine::default::DefaultEngine;
+use delta_kernel::Snapshot;
+use object_store::local::LocalFileSystem;
+use serde_json::json;
+use tempfile::tempdir;
+use tracing::info;
+use url::Url;
+
+#[global_allocator]
+static ALLOC: dhat::Alloc = dhat::Alloc;
+
+const NUM_COMMITS: u64 = 1_000; // number of commit files to generate
+const TOTAL_ACTIONS: u64 = 1_000_000; // total add/remove actions across all commits
+
+/// Generate a delta log with NUM_COMMITS commit files and TOTAL_ACTIONS add/remove action pairs
+fn generate_delta_log(path: &Path) -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
+    let delta_log_path = path.join("_delta_log");
+    create_dir_all(&delta_log_path)?;
+
+    let actions_per_commit = TOTAL_ACTIONS / NUM_COMMITS;
+    let mut current_file_id = 0u64;
+
+    for commit_id in 0..NUM_COMMITS {
+        let commit_filename = format!("{:020}.json", commit_id);
+        let commit_path = delta_log_path.join(&commit_filename);
+        let mut file = File::create(&commit_path)?;
+
+        let mut actions = Vec::new();
+
+        // Add metadata and protocol only for the first commit
+        if commit_id == 0 {
+            actions.push(json!({
+                "metaData": {
+                    "id": format!("{:020}", commit_id),
+                    "format": { "provider": "parquet", "options": {} },
+                    "schemaString": r#"{"type":"struct","fields":[{"name":"value","type":"integer","nullable":true,"metadata":{}}]}"#,
+                    "partitionColumns": [],
+                    "configuration": {}
+                }
+            }));
+            actions.push(json!({
+                "protocol": {
+                    "minReaderVersion": 1,
+                    "minWriterVersion": 1
+                }
+            }));
+        }
+
+        // Generate add/remove action pairs for this commit
+        for _ in 0..actions_per_commit / 2 {
+            // Add action
+            actions.push(json!({
+                "add": {
+                    "path": format!("{}.parquet", current_file_id),
+                    "partitionValues": {},
+                    "size": 1000000,
+                    "modificationTime": commit_id * 1000,
+                    "dataChange": true
+                }
+            }));
+
+            // Remove action (remove a previous file if we have any)
+            if current_file_id > 0 {
+                actions.push(json!({
+                    "remove": {
+                        "path": format!("{}.parquet", current_file_id - 1),
+                        "deletionTimestamp": commit_id * 1000 + 500,
+                        "dataChange": true
+                    }
+                }));
+            }
+
+            current_file_id += 1;
+        }
+
+        // Write actions to file
+        for action in actions {
+            writeln!(file, "{}", action)?;
+        }
+    }
+
+    info!(
+        "Generated {} commit files with {} total actions",
+        NUM_COMMITS, TOTAL_ACTIONS
+    );
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+#[ignore = "mem-test - run manually"]
+#[test]
+fn test_dhat_large_table_log() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
+    let dir = tempdir()?;
+    let table_path = dir.path();
+
+    info!(
+        "Generating delta log with {} commits and {} total actions",
+        NUM_COMMITS, TOTAL_ACTIONS
+    );
+    generate_delta_log(table_path)?;
+
+    let _profiler = dhat::Profiler::builder().testing().build();
+    let store = Arc::new(LocalFileSystem::new());
+    let url = Url::from_directory_path(table_path).unwrap();
+    let engine = DefaultEngine::new(store, Arc::new(TokioBackgroundExecutor::new()));
+
+    let snapshot = Snapshot::builder_for(url)
+        .build(&engine)
+        .expect("Failed to get latest snapshot");
+
+    let stats = dhat::HeapStats::get();
+    println!("Heap stats after PM replay:\n{:?}", stats);
+
+    let scan = snapshot
+        .scan_builder()
+        .build()
+        .expect("Failed to build scan");
+    let scan_metadata = scan
+        .scan_metadata(&engine)
+        .expect("Failed to get scan metadata");
+    for res in scan_metadata {
+        let _scan_metadata = res.expect("Failed to read scan metadata");
+    }
+
+    let stats = dhat::HeapStats::get();
+    println!("Heap stats after Scan replay:\n{:?}", stats);
+
+    Ok(())
+}