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

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5 m; v9 d, k- R* T! [4 HTVBNOW 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。People have become significant earth movers, outpacing all sources of natural erosion. More and more
7 S9 F$ s& |( [3 p' c2 e: iof our footprint can be seen from space in many forms, including cities, reservoirs,agriculture and
& \5 G7 A: y/ V0 R1 y+ b/ P  L. |3 mTVBNOW 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。deforestation. Among the most impressive human scars on the planet are open-pit mines.公仔箱論壇0 \% u! u9 c: D7 P6 Z/ \) `1 f' B
We’ve gathered some of the biggest, most spectacular and interesting mines, as captured by
# i7 F0 {7 b9 o$ l- O6 castronauts and satellites on the following pages.公仔箱論壇7 G7 c5 |$ d6 H+ c" s
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Above: Berkeley Pit, Butte, Montana
- E+ j% [, [' N3 W5 Rtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbThis former copper mine operated between 1955 and 1982. Gold and silver were also mined. 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。( h5 N9 A0 j- _: `" T6 w
An elaborate system of pumps and drains kept the local water level low enough for mining. 1 v2 U1 [1 ?# |3 z. L
Today, the 1,780 foot-deep pit is filled with around 900 feet of very contaminated water filled
- u4 ^4 r; i. hwith metals and chemicals such as arsenic, cadmium, pyrite, zinc,copper and sulfuric acid. The : w5 O% H* a) Z; [
water can be as acidic as battery acid,and copper can actually be “mined” directly from the water.
" i4 [* Y, a: v- w5 o/ m7 CCurrently, the 1-mile-by-0.5-mile pit is listed as a federal Superfund site with the potential to os.tvboxnow.com# b: c& S  V  ^( x/ r
contaminate surrounding ground water, and,surprisingly, is also a tourist attraction, complete 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。  m2 b( |( `" y# j" h
with gift shop and$2 admission fee.TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。! D; ~' D) K, @1 B' W# B  u5 A$ f1 x' e
This photograph was taken Aug. 2, 2006, by astronauts aboard the International Space Station.# }. k. z1 E. a; w3 O6 g% H
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' O6 \$ ?- Q- [6 T/ c8 G2 }Escondida Mine, Chile
, g; ?+ U( g+ tos.tvboxnow.comThe Escondida mine, opened in 1990 at 10,000 feet in northern Chile’s Atacama desert, currently produces   n- O( j4 _1 n/ q1 V4 m3 s6 w, h0 |) T
more copper than any other mine in the world, with 1.5 million tons in 2007, worth more than $10 billion and
, |7 {, Q) _2 h- drepresenting nearly a tenth of world copper production. More than 6,000 people work at the mine.
( I7 }" l8 u. oos.tvboxnow.comThis image was captured in 2000 by the Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer
, [% P9 ~# o) ~9 [" D) [) Ttvb now,tvbnow,bttvbaboard NASA’s Terra satellite.os.tvboxnow.com: ^5 L4 Y0 e$ o& v/ v  g& z" N7 R

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Bingham Canyon Mine, Utah
& P/ X: X( D& ?, r  Los.tvboxnow.comLocated 20 miles outside Salt Lake City in the Oquirrh Mountains, the Bingham Canyon copper pit has produced
) f1 |0 s7 N" f# cmore than 18million tons of copper over its lifetime, more than any other mine in the world. The pit is about 2.75
1 A6 z6 K% Y3 f- A( Otvb now,tvbnow,bttvbmiles wide and 4,000 feet deep. Two Empire State buildings stacked one on top of the the other wouldn’t reach
2 u/ r$ I; v, T$ `6 F0 zTVBNOW 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。the top. By 2015, the mine will be 500 feet deeper, and a third Empire State building will fit inside. The terraces 公仔箱論壇' K0 o8 \: {  ~2 K- B& c8 M- |
inside the pit,which provide a base for the digging equipment and also stabilize the slopes, can be more than 80 公仔箱論壇8 t! g+ s2 H+ Q7 \
feet high. Opened in 1904, the site has been named a historic landmark.os.tvboxnow.com! u7 ^; f# ~3 u) E- ?- f* K" b
This photograph was taken Sept. 20, 2007, by astronauts aboard the International Space Station with a digital tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb- {' Y, A8 ~+ R  n: T) A
camera and an 800mm lens.
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Yuba River Goldfields, California.
5 U1 v0 A/ W+ rtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbThe Yuba Goldfields are a strange culmination of years of pressure-jet mining for gold upstream in the Sierra Nevada, tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb: C2 i# R" D* n/ j. b
dredging the tailings out of the river, and mining the tailings for gold and then later for gravel. The result is an odd
" M/ z) K5 L/ [, T* c7 wlandscape of reddish-brown and gray hills of gravel with water-filled ravines in between.公仔箱論壇8 s* ?6 K! p) [# [/ Z. t
Shortly after gold was discovered in the Sierra Nevadain 1848, panning gave way to highly destructive hydraulic 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。( j1 F7 N$ h' ]) x. x3 D2 ?
mining, which involves blasting sediment away with high-powered jets of water. Gold was extracted from the gravel, tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb% J+ A7 X3 T! Z% d* E) {
which was then dumped and carried downstream by rivers into the Sacramento Valley. The Yuba River ended up with
  N' D4 l" {! x6 |: M! L) p: q4 wos.tvboxnow.com685 million cubic feet of the mine waste, which raised the level of the river, overflowed the banks and buried farms.
( r3 _% o( F, {2 |9 t; u  b, uTVBNOW 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。Dredging of the Yuba began in 1893, and soon after,mining companies began to sift and re sift through the debris to os.tvboxnow.com) o9 I; K& _# e8 [7 [! I3 N
extract ever-smaller bits of gold. By 1970, all economically feasible gold removal had been completed, and mining of the
. C& n6 O) j  |5 M& a# Ngravel for concrete began. Today, ownership of the land is disputed among mining companies, private owners and the government.! i; ~( o6 S( ~' i
This image was taken by the Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer on NASA’s Terra satellite Aug. 29, 2001.9 v$ {4 ]8 R! `, F) C2 z5 I. b& I

& l3 v  E. E- d* K# fTVBNOW 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。
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3 M' T+ e3 ^9 ~& |Toquepala Copper Mine, Perutvb now,tvbnow,bttvb' d8 u9 R0 U+ t1 m* s6 L7 ~* l
Located in the Andes Mountains in southern Peru, the Toquepala mine is 1.5 miles wide and 2,300 feet deep. 公仔箱論壇+ z4 H- D. L) {, D
The mine’s main output is copper, but it also produces gold, silver and molybdenum. The railroad that was
$ I! Z6 E* `5 V( y; `公仔箱論壇constructed to carry the ore 60 miles to the coast can be seen winding down a canyon left of the center, tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb: z( I4 ?# U& g8 E$ O# y7 s7 F& M
heading southwest from the mine. This image was captured by astronauts aboard the International Space
/ F- l. ?& T) r4 l0 E+ V7 r9 n- Itvb now,tvbnow,bttvbStation on Sept. 22, 2003.
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# U$ e8 {: c! \0 l; i* tTVBNOW 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。Freeport Mine, Indonesia! f0 ?  `9 V$ M* D6 H- b' d
The Freeport Mine, also known as the Grasberg complex,is a huge mining operation in Indonesia’s Sudirman " t% ^( x0 B% w$ M. s* `! R
Mountains. Copper was discovered here in 1936, and gold was first found in 1988. Today,the mine is one of
3 Z, y, N& _! }+ g( O' ~公仔箱論壇the largest gold- and copper-extraction operations in the world. The open pit is 2.5 miles wide, and there is 9 g  E5 g- H! W* G8 U2 l$ q
extensive underground mining in the area as well. Glaciers are also visible in the image.
5 G8 ]* U- Y4 F1 X3 OThis photograph was taken June 25, 2005, by astronauts on the International Space Station.
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Cananea Mine, Mexico
& q' o2 ]. z, G( j3 Z- {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。The Cananea mine is located 25 miles south of the United States border in Sonora, Mexico. The active Colorada
# f& R" x  g: u# KTVBNOW 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。Pit in the upper right is 1.6 miles across. It is one of the largest copper producers in the world and also contains tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb& \" B/ C7 M& V8 R3 X& X) o' b
gold. Those two metals are often found together where hot magma forced its way up into the overlying bedrock. % s/ _; Y- i% O( L- G# ^
The magma crystallized there while hot fluids circulated through it and into fractures in the surrounding rock,altering 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。! N2 ~& Y0 z" I; A+ t8 D5 n
the rock to produce copper-rich minerals and gold.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。, A' ?6 j" `* Q% r& U1 y; Y
A 1906 miner’s strike at Cananea turned violent and resulted in 19 deaths, contributing to events that led to the
5 q. u$ |& P9 p4 `1 tMexican Revolution in 1910. Another strike stopped work at the mine in 2007.
" b0 k. K' X- o; {. w& oThis image was taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station on March 3, 2008.
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Phosphate Mines, Jordan
% w7 O2 {( X( bPhosphate mining is an important industry in Jordan,which has abundant deposits of the mineral on approximately 60
+ I: k+ {( y4 m1 Ppercent of its territory. Phosphorus is essential to living things, and food can’t be produced without it. Some scientists
8 u9 r, {" F. TTVBNOW 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。fear a shortage of this critical resource is impending and have predicted the world will reach “Peak Phosphorus,” the
( b( i/ `- N+ j3 l( wtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbpoint at which production will begin to decline, just 30 years from now. There is currently no synthetic alternative.
3 r% X- n. N2 y0 x( yos.tvboxnow.comThis image was capture by the Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer on NASA’s Terra
* b) _# \/ c- Y8 a9 Etvb now,tvbnow,bttvbsatellite Sept. 17, 2005. It is a false-color composite of visible and infrared images. Vegetation appears red, water is
, ^0 g. j: B5 B% \$ A4 Mblue, and rock and soil can be anywhere from buff to black. The mining operation is the area just left of center in the
) R2 ^: A- z" l1 h0 g' I公仔箱論壇lower part of the image that appears striped.1 I8 m$ ~% f/ u/ \3 {2 z

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5 c5 [+ h6 b- [* w3 `公仔箱論壇New Cornelia Mine, Arizonaos.tvboxnow.com  i! k4 k6 z8 M# y
Copper was first mined from this area just south of the mining town of Ajo, Arizona, around 1750. The open-pit mine pictured
% O* l0 E8 d. h# E# c8 J) y公仔箱論壇above began being excavated in earnest in 1912. It was shut down in 1983 when the price of copper dropped. The scalloped tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb3 j, ~1 |: G* X( H5 w
land just to the right of the mine is covered in tailings, and the large gray rectangles above that are containment ponds where
2 V! v2 A) E  t+ Q/ }7 _the metal was extracted.公仔箱論壇" H* O4 E5 B$ I4 p& ^( N9 r) h

  c. q& K; C8 A公仔箱論壇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 `( X6 u+ l: `4 [, K

2 F: Q; `* N7 H" aHambach Coal Mines, Germany6 t. [9 s& L, J. ~: G
The bright white-and-dark-blue–striped areas on the right side of this image are opencast coal mines in mid western Germany. ' P) ]$ h0 o2 `; [( C# M# b
One of the mines is currently being worked by the Bagger 293, the largest machine in the world.The bucket-wheel excavator
( [, ?* D3 Q! F. a" sTVBNOW 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。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.
* u8 d0 u6 F# q$ fThis image, captured by the Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer aboard NASA’s Terra satellite
% x7 x% g- z" x. `: GAug. 26, 2000, is a simulated natural-color image. The bright-green rectangular patches are crops, the gray patches are tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb) a3 z# ]: L, c4 E1 s
bare ground, and the bluish-gray areas are towns.