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

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  O6 p9 T3 J3 S( PPeople have become significant earth movers, outpacing all sources of natural erosion. More and more
& u3 h* P2 X  \6 {) {of our footprint can be seen from space in many forms, including cities, reservoirs,agriculture and
) c* ~7 {2 ^1 e5 N8 E: ptvb now,tvbnow,bttvbdeforestation. Among the most impressive human scars on the planet are open-pit mines.公仔箱論壇2 j0 K, B' p$ m4 K8 q# v
We’ve gathered some of the biggest, most spectacular and interesting mines, as captured by 6 I5 G& D+ U& g5 O
astronauts and satellites on the following pages.5.39.217.77. i! l. D* A% @6 E- j
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Above: Berkeley Pit, Butte, Montana( b' J: Z2 M7 ]! k; ~3 q
This former copper mine operated between 1955 and 1982. Gold and silver were also mined. 5.39.217.77: P+ ?/ [- H5 Z* A( {  Y+ L. ^
An elaborate system of pumps and drains kept the local water level low enough for mining.
1 D% x; F# z  g, o# O) m, p, Jtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbToday, the 1,780 foot-deep pit is filled with around 900 feet of very contaminated water filled公仔箱論壇1 {8 E. E. }6 n. @* n" y
with metals and chemicals such as arsenic, cadmium, pyrite, zinc,copper and sulfuric acid. The tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb% y% b) I9 b1 F  L3 m9 R
water can be as acidic as battery acid,and copper can actually be “mined” directly from the water.
6 B6 w, ^! f, C/ @5.39.217.77Currently, the 1-mile-by-0.5-mile pit is listed as a federal Superfund site with the potential to 公仔箱論壇; n  v( x! h9 ^
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。3 H1 N% N2 R3 t4 l. ]( ^: R. d
with gift shop and$2 admission fee.TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。  r4 h( M  k0 G9 e
This photograph was taken Aug. 2, 2006, by astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
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Escondida Mine, Chile
& F9 u$ J; I8 j  W公仔箱論壇The Escondida mine, opened in 1990 at 10,000 feet in northern Chile’s Atacama desert, currently produces
) t6 V) r8 _; qmore copper than any other mine in the world, with 1.5 million tons in 2007, worth more than $10 billion and
4 A( E. o6 V0 y6 W4 ?# R) wrepresenting nearly a tenth of world copper production. More than 6,000 people work at the mine.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb  k! u; `* ~  t0 \! ^$ ^
This image was captured in 2000 by the Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer 5.39.217.773 E0 `! }7 F2 h* |; @; ?  z
aboard NASA’s Terra satellite.
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Bingham Canyon Mine, Utah公仔箱論壇5 S4 w3 M2 o; c  ?
Located 20 miles outside Salt Lake City in the Oquirrh Mountains, the Bingham Canyon copper pit has produced
/ a* Y$ E) @% x( `8 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。more than 18million tons of copper over its lifetime, more than any other mine in the world. The pit is about 2.75
4 B  @3 i) ]$ d公仔箱論壇miles wide and 4,000 feet deep. Two Empire State buildings stacked one on top of the the other wouldn’t reach
# ~' _( n9 K% E9 uthe top. By 2015, the mine will be 500 feet deeper, and a third Empire State building will fit inside. The terraces
1 b9 [6 b& [- ]inside the pit,which provide a base for the digging equipment and also stabilize the slopes, can be more than 80 ' E2 D# S, S. w; F& I
feet high. Opened in 1904, the site has been named a historic landmark.
( R2 e" E6 t, ITVBNOW 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 photograph was taken Sept. 20, 2007, by astronauts aboard the International Space Station with a digital ; u' `" l8 R& N* O9 H
camera and an 800mm lens.
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) |8 B2 y1 q! }* \Yuba River Goldfields, California.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 e4 K: \* }0 }) D. @0 ~( K# u# s+ I
The Yuba Goldfields are a strange culmination of years of pressure-jet mining for gold upstream in the Sierra Nevada, tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb, L1 b: }: a5 {3 H& ^
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。7 x% l/ [- E& P' B4 ^# D
landscape of reddish-brown and gray hills of gravel with water-filled ravines in between.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。* F! \4 i: ~' G: {% ^. ^% E% k! B
Shortly after gold was discovered in the Sierra Nevadain 1848, panning gave way to highly destructive hydraulic
1 ^6 T) P2 z" p( k& d( r公仔箱論壇mining, which involves blasting sediment away with high-powered jets of water. Gold was extracted from the gravel, tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb% }) K: V% q. R: |6 J
which was then dumped and carried downstream by rivers into the Sacramento Valley. The Yuba River ended up with 公仔箱論壇0 B- x" u7 ^; \# {
685 million cubic feet of the mine waste, which raised the level of the river, overflowed the banks and buried farms.
/ W6 |8 v! q* a7 r- dDredging of the Yuba began in 1893, and soon after,mining companies began to sift and re sift through the debris to 5.39.217.77  b; z+ x( w8 C1 y. {# I5 X7 ]3 J
extract ever-smaller bits of gold. By 1970, all economically feasible gold removal had been completed, and mining of the
9 C3 d+ O2 ?; ]# G8 Mtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbgravel for concrete began. Today, ownership of the land is disputed among mining companies, private owners and the government.公仔箱論壇3 z8 e$ R4 C/ \; i' O* ]) X/ H. ]
This image was taken by the Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer on NASA’s Terra satellite Aug. 29, 2001.
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Toquepala Copper Mine, Peru0 l& h, `: I6 w, g
Located in the Andes Mountains in southern Peru, the Toquepala mine is 1.5 miles wide and 2,300 feet deep.
  `, D% D6 v8 aTVBNOW 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 mine’s main output is copper, but it also produces gold, silver and molybdenum. The railroad that was 公仔箱論壇  c+ b+ ~- ]% |  Y8 `% p
constructed to carry the ore 60 miles to the coast can be seen winding down a canyon left of the center, 5.39.217.77+ Q; \2 Y: Y: l* p1 F$ ~. o3 `
heading southwest from the mine. This image was captured by astronauts aboard the International Space
" \" n0 \/ [1 u6 r! n9 ^% pStation on Sept. 22, 2003.
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. Z8 d# T3 e' y6 V7 I5 ~1 B" C" N3 Z! F' aTVBNOW 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
. S4 p' A& t+ Y) Z6 [, eThe Freeport Mine, also known as the Grasberg complex,is a huge mining operation in Indonesia’s Sudirman
; U- ]* {8 @. C3 I, }5.39.217.77Mountains. Copper was discovered here in 1936, and gold was first found in 1988. Today,the mine is one of 5.39.217.776 Q. V6 H  Z2 r! l; R" F2 N/ A" k
the largest gold- and copper-extraction operations in the world. The open pit is 2.5 miles wide, and there is
! L( U6 L% s6 x8 x5 hextensive underground mining in the area as well. Glaciers are also visible in the image.公仔箱論壇0 [8 e7 b9 a2 L# C0 E9 G
This photograph was taken June 25, 2005, by astronauts on 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。6 W+ ?9 M. e+ h3 S8 t3 n
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Cananea Mine, Mexico
2 o) h* {; [3 r, s7 L2 @The Cananea mine is located 25 miles south of the United States border in Sonora, Mexico. The active Colorada
2 u/ P" C( E9 G- \$ RPit in the upper right is 1.6 miles across. It is one of the largest copper producers in the world and also contains % N# Q% Z' Z0 a1 d+ F8 Q( N4 _
gold. Those two metals are often found together where hot magma forced its way up into the overlying bedrock. + b0 x) w: q- i7 v( h
The magma crystallized there while hot fluids circulated through it and into fractures in the surrounding rock,altering tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb9 A: a% V! j+ F. |) P) H9 N) q% r
the rock to produce copper-rich minerals and gold.5.39.217.77: {2 y7 V3 T7 D
A 1906 miner’s strike at Cananea turned violent and resulted in 19 deaths, contributing to events that led to the 7 H) ~) [1 [) N5 S! U' ?% I
Mexican Revolution in 1910. Another strike stopped work at the mine in 2007.
; R2 Z5 t3 R! r- P- \公仔箱論壇This image was taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station on March 3, 2008.
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Phosphate Mines, Jordan" {" T% M+ M3 R% E
Phosphate mining is an important industry in Jordan,which has abundant deposits of the mineral on approximately 60
, H) w8 S: H! V8 a( l/ Npercent of its territory. Phosphorus is essential to living things, and food can’t be produced without it. Some scientists
# R0 i: E" l/ s, _4 D. U5.39.217.77fear a shortage of this critical resource is impending and have predicted the world will reach “Peak Phosphorus,” the
0 H% Y- a% ~6 [/ [8 Gpoint at which production will begin to decline, just 30 years from now. There is currently no synthetic alternative.
. D- V: |7 r& m' o$ @: z1 [! E5.39.217.77This image was capture by the Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer on NASA’s Terra
: r& `9 V  J' h. {8 D9 S2 Q; k: 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。satellite Sept. 17, 2005. It is a false-color composite of visible and infrared images. Vegetation appears red, water is
0 R( @$ a' p/ V5 ]& e* ?9 b; Wblue, and rock and soil can be anywhere from buff to black. The mining operation is the area just left of center in the
2 L+ j, [; B3 f6 [9 @lower part of the image that appears striped.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。( J; {4 T& m  p( C2 H1 {
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New Cornelia Mine, Arizonatvb now,tvbnow,bttvb. m! A& e: r+ l3 `' t
Copper was first mined from this area just south of the mining town of Ajo, Arizona, around 1750. The open-pit mine pictured
% f+ x) t2 g/ O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
* }- S. _( F# |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。land just to the right of the mine is covered in tailings, and the large gray rectangles above that are containment ponds where
9 W. e; W5 c& H. c% c6 kthe metal was extracted.
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% r& O9 ^4 O8 S0 ftvb 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。  s. l, ]. l& }+ k1 x5 m/ F
The bright white-and-dark-blue–striped areas on the right side of this image are opencast coal mines in mid western Germany. " }$ l! ~' f% L7 t- v
One of the mines is currently being worked by the Bagger 293, the largest machine in the world.The bucket-wheel excavator
9 f/ D( |- A) _" E* _5 `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.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb, p# ~6 ]7 M7 X. t. a4 A! @2 ^7 }
This image, captured by the Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer aboard NASA’s Terra satellite
) g( z3 }" D5 ?0 x& b+ }6 \6 F5.39.217.77Aug. 26, 2000, is a simulated natural-color image. The bright-green rectangular patches are crops, the gray patches are 5.39.217.778 }0 r. c7 L' \: e, O) ?8 r
bare ground, and the bluish-gray areas are towns.