/ P% |9 u* `& l$ L% g& q! G  {
* X5 g6 l1 A8 ~5.39.217.77:8898People have become significant earth movers, outpacing all sources of natural erosion. More and more . c1 q+ Q" Y" c; S2 n
of our footprint can be seen from space in many forms, including cities, reservoirs,agriculture and 公仔箱論壇' d# b  F& ?+ J7 C3 I7 Z& a' d
deforestation. Among the most impressive human scars on the planet are open-pit mines.5.39.217.77:8898) t: ^- T  G' z# J& E" }
We’ve gathered some of the biggest, most spectacular and interesting mines, as captured by % ?" N4 Y3 W& [# M
astronauts and satellites on the following pages.公仔箱論壇9 ]6 ~4 c# T: x( K9 n
公仔箱論壇  P& C1 J8 X: i
Above: Berkeley Pit, Butte, Montana3 t2 n, p1 [/ \
This former copper mine operated between 1955 and 1982. Gold and silver were also mined. tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb1 p4 I; \' _4 b$ v
An elaborate system of pumps and drains kept the local water level low enough for mining.
4 P2 r' Q( r7 u: U/ u& {! `$ d; G公仔箱論壇Today, the 1,780 foot-deep pit is filled with around 900 feet of very contaminated water filledtvb now,tvbnow,bttvb9 u; ~0 H+ E( j8 x# O% _
with metals and chemicals such as arsenic, cadmium, pyrite, zinc,copper and sulfuric acid. The / ?7 l3 K. H. Z  j  d6 s
water can be as acidic as battery acid,and copper can actually be “mined” directly from the water.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb: ?, f1 F3 r% w2 i- L
Currently, the 1-mile-by-0.5-mile pit is listed as a federal Superfund site with the potential to
7 ~$ S/ q, g; G' q( e7 wcontaminate surrounding ground water, and,surprisingly, is also a tourist attraction, complete
  s: {2 X, U& N2 B3 V. |/ j! Qwith 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。5 w3 I8 E) U9 H+ j7 |' C
This photograph was taken Aug. 2, 2006, by astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
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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。( N* e1 h; T) m* N9 U
Escondida Mine, Chile
% H( S% R5 y0 L9 _. j: j' jtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbThe Escondida mine, opened in 1990 at 10,000 feet in northern Chile’s Atacama desert, currently produces
9 n1 I) `6 a  Z5 L' Jmore copper than any other mine in the world, with 1.5 million tons in 2007, worth more than $10 billion and 公仔箱論壇1 W+ u5 k% L8 y# [# q
representing nearly a tenth of world copper production. More than 6,000 people work at the mine.
* |2 l- l& I: W4 uTVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。This image was captured in 2000 by the Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer
7 n) A6 t% y' [7 h" T0 Gaboard NASA’s Terra satellite.: j: c% n# N0 E$ |

2 ^& k. {% j! Q, h) s4 c) O" g$ V; g2 b; \1 `8 T/ o* a- @: |
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。" ?0 u2 O8 A+ V( ^
Bingham Canyon Mine, Utah
- Y! \1 z& h) W, ^5 C0 _Located 20 miles outside Salt Lake City in the Oquirrh Mountains, the Bingham Canyon copper pit has produced
* ?' Z# _" h% s, K) O  O5.39.217.77:8898more than 18million tons of copper over its lifetime, more than any other mine in the world. The pit is about 2.75 + @7 v5 z9 W9 K4 Q; H$ K4 t6 j/ L
miles wide and 4,000 feet deep. Two Empire State buildings stacked one on top of the the other wouldn’t reach 5.39.217.77:88985 V, o& w2 C6 z* s3 \
the top. By 2015, the mine will be 500 feet deeper, and a third Empire State building will fit inside. The terraces
* g& j& X! ~. ~" ]2 ]" \( |* G+ uinside the pit,which provide a base for the digging equipment and also stabilize the slopes, can be more than 80
6 O; u( c% ?+ ~* n$ H& vfeet high. Opened in 1904, the site has been named a historic landmark.
5 z' r- o. q8 q$ xThis photograph was taken Sept. 20, 2007, by astronauts aboard the International Space Station with a digital
4 q5 t2 u+ h+ h! F5 _# dtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbcamera and an 800mm lens.5 y& T! _! B7 z( ~1 E9 s
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* J9 k  j8 u6 ttvb now,tvbnow,bttvb5.39.217.77:88983 r% n7 ]: D0 U) f; d0 Z$ K/ ?
Yuba River Goldfields, California.
' C% o- n( u, \  d8 T+ s4 r! G: e5.39.217.77:8898The Yuba Goldfields are a strange culmination of years of pressure-jet mining for gold upstream in the Sierra Nevada,
- |9 e1 C/ q' f( w6 C) T" l2 wdredging the tailings out of the river, and mining the tailings for gold and then later for gravel. The result is an odd tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb9 v7 h$ o" x$ r, E. R
landscape of reddish-brown and gray hills of gravel with water-filled ravines in between.  |2 h; M( X# d* P3 e0 Z+ k
Shortly after gold was discovered in the Sierra Nevadain 1848, panning gave way to highly destructive hydraulic + l5 E2 D" e7 d3 }
mining, which involves blasting sediment away with high-powered jets of water. Gold was extracted from the gravel, 公仔箱論壇/ a* E8 T6 {% Y) f* T( M  _, V
which was then dumped and carried downstream by rivers into the Sacramento Valley. The Yuba River ended up with
1 g% @: q4 n+ ~5 _) f9 `5 U685 million cubic feet of the mine waste, which raised the level of the river, overflowed the banks and buried farms.) D( _& o; P* ?
Dredging of the Yuba began in 1893, and soon after,mining companies began to sift and re sift through the debris to 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。) d9 O* m7 `2 X+ r% I1 ]/ X# j
extract ever-smaller bits of gold. By 1970, all economically feasible gold removal had been completed, and mining of the + J$ l( e! \3 F2 O$ @2 s9 C( L0 D
gravel for concrete began. Today, ownership of the land is disputed among mining companies, private owners and the government.4 d2 n: i$ k9 F
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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( c, [7 e. ^/ O; I' @! {: vtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbTVBNOW 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 O  ]2 P( l+ W: V( v2 J7 Q

, v6 {  s9 j/ j& AToquepala Copper Mine, Peru
0 y9 W4 j: ]8 ?! N5.39.217.77:8898Located in the Andes Mountains in southern Peru, the Toquepala mine is 1.5 miles wide and 2,300 feet deep. 2 ]- U; `, d, P8 g& @$ z" b0 K
The mine’s main output is copper, but it also produces gold, silver and molybdenum. The railroad that was
+ D+ e& g1 c; P$ s) S7 S6 ?constructed to carry the ore 60 miles to the coast can be seen winding down a canyon left of the center,
% Z5 s9 m# }2 W, v9 n" {5.39.217.77:8898heading southwest from the mine. This image was captured by astronauts aboard the International Space
' _+ ^8 ^$ n9 u" X# g) [公仔箱論壇Station on Sept. 22, 2003.
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Freeport Mine, Indonesia/ c+ Q4 |& z$ [' V- G+ O
The Freeport Mine, also known as the Grasberg complex,is a huge mining operation in Indonesia’s Sudirman 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 I1 u( q/ i0 X
Mountains. Copper was discovered here in 1936, and gold was first found in 1988. Today,the mine is one of 公仔箱論壇) g% Q2 e# O5 B7 n) A
the largest gold- and copper-extraction operations in the world. The open pit is 2.5 miles wide, and there is
& C2 o! t$ K: ~1 I5.39.217.77:8898extensive underground mining in the area as well. Glaciers are also visible in the image.
3 J- w. l2 u! AThis photograph was taken June 25, 2005, by astronauts on the International Space Station.
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! u+ F: @! v( y' @公仔箱論壇tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb" o5 ]& ~  j6 `5 f" W6 @

  [7 F' S6 B. y' x( P, z/ rCananea Mine, Mexico
% ~- d; D  t" K公仔箱論壇The Cananea mine is located 25 miles south of the United States border in Sonora, Mexico. The active Colorada
/ e) w: {: v- \: q( l  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。Pit in the upper right is 1.6 miles across. It is one of the largest copper producers in the world and also contains
/ R  y5 ]) x4 C3 o; Egold. Those two metals are often found together where hot magma forced its way up into the overlying bedrock. 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 f- t7 o( |+ F/ @, l
The magma crystallized there while hot fluids circulated through it and into fractures in the surrounding rock,altering tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb  g' @$ A# m5 [' C( E8 J
the rock to produce copper-rich minerals and gold.+ m0 o; q3 V2 y* _/ {
A 1906 miner’s strike at Cananea turned violent and resulted in 19 deaths, contributing to events that led to the
3 G6 `, a* N% SMexican Revolution in 1910. Another strike stopped work at the mine in 2007.
5 T! L; j. ^5 |" h+ e3 J/ g! VTVBNOW 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.
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4 v" N5 n' q1 B8 b; EPhosphate Mines, JordanTVBNOW 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。/ K- q& {9 u% z# V% m& k* i. ^
Phosphate mining is an important industry in Jordan,which has abundant deposits of the mineral on approximately 60 . K- `2 }, k4 K9 \) g& d
percent of its territory. Phosphorus is essential to living things, and food can’t be produced without it. Some scientists
" g( E" p5 k; Bfear a shortage of this critical resource is impending and have predicted the world will reach “Peak Phosphorus,” the
) X$ h( m0 g& ]7 P- m+ r: ^- U1 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。point at which production will begin to decline, just 30 years from now. There is currently no synthetic alternative.
* C# X  |, N+ [+ D( [' p5.39.217.77:8898This image was capture by the Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer on NASA’s Terra 公仔箱論壇  g" i) P) p/ ?
satellite Sept. 17, 2005. It is a false-color composite of visible and infrared images. Vegetation appears red, water is
2 C) M, ^9 B6 G& W4 T3 I: ]9 G5 etvb now,tvbnow,bttvbblue, and rock and soil can be anywhere from buff to black. The mining operation is the area just left of center in the 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。. r/ _1 N/ z, j5 Y
lower part of the image that appears striped.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb7 J! h5 s+ g( `- j* J

1 N- Y3 k, L7 m3 }! b9 btvb now,tvbnow,bttvbtvb now,tvbnow,bttvb  I2 U2 j; y1 n) f8 [4 Z
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New Cornelia Mine, Arizona
: g8 i' _# N' m. P; xCopper was first mined from this area just south of the mining town of Ajo, Arizona, around 1750. The open-pit mine pictured tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb% t4 G5 s5 c" |2 l2 ~7 A
above began being excavated in earnest in 1912. It was shut down in 1983 when the price of copper dropped. The scalloped 0 c# R/ B/ O, P9 F7 L7 r
land just to the right of the mine is covered in tailings, and the large gray rectangles above that are containment ponds where
& G7 X: R3 O  m  i/ g0 ], Otvb now,tvbnow,bttvbthe metal was extracted.5.39.217.77:8898; w& I6 e8 e1 ~4 L' @8 D' Y
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% N4 Z! t: n  \- W# o0 Q  dTVBNOW 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。5.39.217.77:88981 B" W5 Q- z- ~# q; k2 y' V2 v
Hambach Coal Mines, Germany
+ L& i4 K  `: b) a2 Utvb now,tvbnow,bttvbThe bright white-and-dark-blue–striped areas on the right side of this image are opencast coal mines in mid western Germany.
0 E/ l  Y' u1 Z% X5.39.217.77:8898One of the mines is currently being worked by the Bagger 293, the largest machine in the world.The bucket-wheel excavator tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb% G$ |0 T; B4 j
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.
( J/ g3 R0 t; \4 O3 X$ K$ e6 pTVBNOW 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, captured by the Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer aboard NASA’s Terra satellite 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。/ S3 \: N/ G/ C& g5 `8 s8 M
Aug. 26, 2000, is a simulated natural-color image. The bright-green rectangular patches are crops, the gray patches are 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 i* Y% k8 ~! r' E+ g! G
bare ground, and the bluish-gray areas are towns.