Huge Holes in the Earth: Open-Pit Mines Seen From Space

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0 U" X/ {: ~; c0 t, W公仔箱論壇People have become significant earth movers, outpacing all sources of natural erosion. More and more
, Z/ ^# _+ {  V1 Y+ i- Btvb now,tvbnow,bttvbof our footprint can be seen from space in many forms, including cities, reservoirs,agriculture and
3 z$ Y$ O; Y( A, jwww.tvboxnow.comdeforestation. Among the most impressive human scars on the planet are open-pit mines.& [* N% p0 o, H6 _
We’ve gathered some of the biggest, most spectacular and interesting mines, as captured by
5 G: x/ y+ \% Z# L( q" S$ Zwww.tvboxnow.comastronauts and satellites on the following pages.
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Above: Berkeley Pit, Butte, Montana
. K  G1 t9 D3 _3 k) C公仔箱論壇This former copper mine operated between 1955 and 1982. Gold and silver were also mined. ! g* R0 f3 Z2 ^8 d2 w
An elaborate system of pumps and drains kept the local water level low enough for mining. 公仔箱論壇  J0 y3 a, f  A$ C' o
Today, the 1,780 foot-deep pit is filled with around 900 feet of very contaminated water filled; r) s' [6 _+ i+ N/ I" [6 A. Y8 `0 Z1 s
with metals and chemicals such as arsenic, cadmium, pyrite, zinc,copper and sulfuric acid. The
0 V! G8 V7 m  H, BTVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。water can be as acidic as battery acid,and copper can actually be “mined” directly from the water.TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。& `5 \. v6 D, c0 ^) F2 }  Z0 @
Currently, the 1-mile-by-0.5-mile pit is listed as a federal Superfund site with the potential to 4 T8 W7 H# f. l. j
contaminate surrounding ground water, and,surprisingly, is also a tourist attraction, complete 公仔箱論壇  n; I! @( \: m
with gift shop and$2 admission fee.' {( s" D& c, {- l# S, s3 ~3 O
This photograph was taken Aug. 2, 2006, by astronauts aboard the International Space Station.TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。- S: G2 ^9 s+ \3 t: {! N& P, t
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Escondida Mine, Chile
3 r  Y9 I- x4 H$ C3 o公仔箱論壇The Escondida mine, opened in 1990 at 10,000 feet in northern Chile’s Atacama desert, currently produces ) |: l1 o( e  T3 b, r( M8 M! p
more copper than any other mine in the world, with 1.5 million tons in 2007, worth more than $10 billion and
9 a! @9 _. Q+ M1 f' z6 z6 J公仔箱論壇representing nearly a tenth of world copper production. More than 6,000 people work at the mine.TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。% Q2 Q$ [! S& s- }
This image was captured in 2000 by the Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer 公仔箱論壇* j; I( y7 r. D* z& ]
aboard NASA’s Terra satellite.3 @+ z: G2 N/ h, P9 K, E
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Bingham Canyon Mine, UtahTVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。0 [1 ~/ f, E# k. u, ~4 d
Located 20 miles outside Salt Lake City in the Oquirrh Mountains, the Bingham Canyon copper pit has produced tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb+ @$ I+ f7 D7 p5 o: R
more than 18million tons of copper over its lifetime, more than any other mine in the world. The pit is about 2.75 2 W* r3 O/ ^  Y# j' a# g1 P- E
miles wide and 4,000 feet deep. Two Empire State buildings stacked one on top of the the other wouldn’t reach tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb& F# [9 w) K( s9 k6 G# s/ n
the top. By 2015, the mine will be 500 feet deeper, and a third Empire State building will fit inside. The terraces
) g9 W% K! b$ ~7 [. N: Cinside the pit,which provide a base for the digging equipment and also stabilize the slopes, can be more than 80 www.tvboxnow.com+ o- z# t+ K5 `# N6 s
feet high. Opened in 1904, the site has been named a historic landmark.TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。/ m% a9 e5 B) a- g5 l
This photograph was taken Sept. 20, 2007, by astronauts aboard the International Space Station with a digital
, |, J* k6 \$ _; p8 E0 `camera and an 800mm lens.
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Yuba River Goldfields, California.
/ F4 u( ]3 M" n6 |/ Y公仔箱論壇The Yuba Goldfields are a strange culmination of years of pressure-jet mining for gold upstream in the Sierra Nevada, ! u5 F+ p' M+ u# R7 x: i0 [
dredging the tailings out of the river, and mining the tailings for gold and then later for gravel. The result is an odd TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。4 M4 {/ m; N0 |+ B
landscape of reddish-brown and gray hills of gravel with water-filled ravines in between.
7 S8 f% V" I  M8 E3 A3 b3 u+ p: _www.tvboxnow.comShortly after gold was discovered in the Sierra Nevadain 1848, panning gave way to highly destructive hydraulic
' B8 r4 {4 n% A0 o. Gwww.tvboxnow.commining, which involves blasting sediment away with high-powered jets of water. Gold was extracted from the gravel, 公仔箱論壇, Q" Y$ a5 U) w, I5 H
which was then dumped and carried downstream by rivers into the Sacramento Valley. The Yuba River ended up with
1 o, w; u- ?3 x- o( R! i* i/ Htvb now,tvbnow,bttvb685 million cubic feet of the mine waste, which raised the level of the river, overflowed the banks and buried farms.
/ k9 d1 p8 T: G. h2 rDredging of the Yuba began in 1893, and soon after,mining companies began to sift and re sift through the debris to
" |) m% G! Q7 ]2 u7 W, `tvb now,tvbnow,bttvbextract ever-smaller bits of gold. By 1970, all economically feasible gold removal had been completed, and mining of the
- i8 X+ a' l' S) }公仔箱論壇gravel for concrete began. Today, ownership of the land is disputed among mining companies, private owners and the government.TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。9 {: U: p+ N% Q5 F6 n( U9 O
This image was taken by the Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer on NASA’s Terra satellite Aug. 29, 2001.
, C, T$ q  ^1 e" z" l* c. t公仔箱論壇公仔箱論壇4 _. Z  }& Y: |& P# P) D+ _' F
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0 K$ w5 z  e( t! v, NTVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。Toquepala Copper Mine, Peru
( S0 J5 g, ]9 Y4 ~( d6 h公仔箱論壇Located in the Andes Mountains in southern Peru, the Toquepala mine is 1.5 miles wide and 2,300 feet deep. TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。; W! v1 m% Z/ v' \
The mine’s main output is copper, but it also produces gold, silver and molybdenum. The railroad that was
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heading southwest from the mine. This image was captured by astronauts aboard the International Space tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb1 L  ?7 ~) R: [/ K: O& U$ G4 O
Station on Sept. 22, 2003.
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Freeport Mine, Indonesia3 L7 Z8 ?4 `" I$ R0 ]1 `
The Freeport Mine, also known as the Grasberg complex,is a huge mining operation in Indonesia’s Sudirman . }- c+ \. j8 o% P( N* \
Mountains. Copper was discovered here in 1936, and gold was first found in 1988. Today,the mine is one of tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb  O6 U7 s) ~4 l: p* L
the largest gold- and copper-extraction operations in the world. The open pit is 2.5 miles wide, and there is www.tvboxnow.com$ f# ]4 t# Z. L3 N# y
extensive underground mining in the area as well. Glaciers are also visible in the image.% U/ Y/ n0 G1 W5 `7 |$ s
This photograph was taken June 25, 2005, by astronauts on the International Space Station.
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4 }' f% [6 Y, _2 G# k公仔箱論壇Cananea Mine, Mexicowww.tvboxnow.com6 q" U$ \& m2 R' y' F7 J8 E
The Cananea mine is located 25 miles south of the United States border in Sonora, Mexico. The active Colorada
  F& ~6 Z( s9 P2 {Pit in the upper right is 1.6 miles across. It is one of the largest copper producers in the world and also contains 3 J+ f# [& W8 _! w$ s1 y: U
gold. Those two metals are often found together where hot magma forced its way up into the overlying bedrock.
7 S- }& u; D: i6 q( |www.tvboxnow.comThe magma crystallized there while hot fluids circulated through it and into fractures in the surrounding rock,altering
5 r: a% I" X2 p0 othe rock to produce copper-rich minerals and gold.! F( l0 l/ t* }5 r
A 1906 miner’s strike at Cananea turned violent and resulted in 19 deaths, contributing to events that led to the ; S: a9 `- n& m+ B9 Y
Mexican Revolution in 1910. Another strike stopped work at the mine in 2007.
$ T6 `0 X! F: i2 [0 ?0 rTVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。This image was taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station on March 3, 2008., N; ]% J' _' _' f: L5 H2 t7 k$ ?
公仔箱論壇. }4 a; O( R1 r/ W8 u) N7 a: T
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Phosphate Mines, Jordan
+ Y7 x3 P0 o4 @5 _6 G2 i1 CTVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。Phosphate mining is an important industry in Jordan,which has abundant deposits of the mineral on approximately 60
0 L) G( l1 x: M# I  D$ Ytvb now,tvbnow,bttvbpercent of its territory. Phosphorus is essential to living things, and food can’t be produced without it. Some scientists
7 ~5 X5 m: w4 R, U" s5 Ptvb now,tvbnow,bttvbfear a shortage of this critical resource is impending and have predicted the world will reach “Peak Phosphorus,” the
& p: e. S+ d2 ~- W9 w# @# @/ rpoint at which production will begin to decline, just 30 years from now. There is currently no synthetic alternative.
6 G6 N" }% P. A+ Y& P( gtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbThis image was capture by the Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer on NASA’s Terra
2 T% L6 l# x( w6 e* _! F% gsatellite Sept. 17, 2005. It is a false-color composite of visible and infrared images. Vegetation appears red, water is
) F- W, U: a. D: fblue, and rock and soil can be anywhere from buff to black. The mining operation is the area just left of center in the
5 s/ S' F) c" I$ Vlower part of the image that appears striped.
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8 H; J6 N* z+ j6 l- @. S公仔箱論壇公仔箱論壇4 o- c0 S' D7 p% C, w. F0 l
New Cornelia Mine, Arizona$ M8 Q' `8 I4 i: ]) y" Q2 z
Copper was first mined from this area just south of the mining town of Ajo, Arizona, around 1750. The open-pit mine pictured
% c* G  u$ |6 g$ o& {above began being excavated in earnest in 1912. It was shut down in 1983 when the price of copper dropped. The scalloped
3 L/ l/ ^& \' K+ E# _tvb now,tvbnow,bttvbland just to the right of the mine is covered in tailings, and the large gray rectangles above that are containment ponds where TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。  _% b" J" F4 Y* b5 _. m1 e
the metal was extracted.公仔箱論壇: |6 i/ H' O! K! h* [

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1 M2 e1 I; ?2 R$ Xtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbHambach Coal Mines, GermanyTVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。5 W, {1 G; n5 B/ O
The bright white-and-dark-blue–striped areas on the right side of this image are opencast coal mines in mid western Germany. ( e' K" \6 ^1 K$ P; r
One of the mines is currently being worked by the Bagger 293, the largest machine in the world.The bucket-wheel excavator 公仔箱論壇" w: D) t* H5 J. w
is twice as long as a soccer field and a stall as a 30-story building, and digs up 30 million tons of lignite per year.( W1 T5 [0 c9 C' b9 z: s9 Y& U! m
This image, captured by the Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer aboard NASA’s Terra satellite
' D+ O' i- S$ E9 RAug. 26, 2000, is a simulated natural-color image. The bright-green rectangular patches are crops, the gray patches are
% d9 a; m; \8 F) g5 xwww.tvboxnow.combare ground, and the bluish-gray areas are towns.