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

本帖最後由 bchew 於 2009-12-22 09:32 AM 編輯

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/ O3 c4 W4 d2 P5.39.217.76People have become significant earth movers, outpacing all sources of natural erosion. More and more % A3 h# O8 P. P1 [7 L
of our footprint can be seen from space in many forms, including cities, reservoirs,agriculture and
deforestation. Among the most impressive human scars on the planet are open-pit mines.公仔箱論壇! X+ @! I5 T& B4 s4 P
We’ve gathered some of the biggest, most spectacular and interesting mines, as captured by 1 M' z: b% V% t/ {3 Q& {6 W2 v
astronauts and satellites on the following pages.

Above: Berkeley Pit, Butte, Montana7 k( v. q0 G3 g' ~
This former copper mine operated between 1955 and 1982. Gold and silver were also mined. 7 c# C; D7 v% [
An elaborate system of pumps and drains kept the local water level low enough for mining. 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 H1 M: |4 I  ?0 f, Q
Today, the 1,780 foot-deep pit is filled with around 900 feet of very contaminated water filledtvb now,tvbnow,bttvb5 q, ]" t  L4 D8 p
with metals and chemicals such as arsenic, cadmium, pyrite, zinc,copper and sulfuric acid. The 3 s+ J5 Y2 d9 a1 ^7 ^& i: V
water can be as acidic as battery acid,and copper can actually be “mined” directly from the water.5 t" h+ j8 p3 n4 Z8 ^
Currently, the 1-mile-by-0.5-mile pit is listed as a federal Superfund site with the potential to 5.39.217.76, z- h# L/ [9 l( V  x
contaminate surrounding ground water, and,surprisingly, is also a tourist attraction, complete
with gift shop and$2 admission fee.2 h2 N* s+ ]9 A" w
This photograph was taken Aug. 2, 2006, by astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
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Escondida Mine, Chiletvb now,tvbnow,bttvb5 P! d# p* w$ z+ S' F* t% d
The Escondida mine, opened in 1990 at 10,000 feet in northern Chile’s Atacama desert, currently produces
more copper than any other mine in the world, with 1.5 million tons in 2007, worth more than $10 billion and tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb* u0 @1 u+ Y6 B- t1 l3 t6 ~( y
representing nearly a tenth of world copper production. More than 6,000 people work at the mine.5.39.217.76! n! s. e- d1 L6 J" w6 C2 D
This image was captured in 2000 by the Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer
aboard NASA’s Terra satellite.
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1 e/ ?$ f; ~. y# VBingham Canyon Mine, Utahtvb now,tvbnow,bttvb4 G2 {9 x( `4 q7 {# q
Located 20 miles outside Salt Lake City in the Oquirrh Mountains, the Bingham Canyon copper pit has produced 公仔箱論壇; ?6 a) n( V! A1 c
more than 18million tons of copper over its lifetime, more than any other mine in the world. The pit is about 2.75
miles wide and 4,000 feet deep. Two Empire State buildings stacked one on top of the the other wouldn’t reach 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 @- X; b( b0 ?, ]$ V- y" G
the top. By 2015, the mine will be 500 feet deeper, and a third Empire State building will fit inside. The terraces / ?0 H! P+ O: k: f# Y
inside the pit,which provide a base for the digging equipment and also stabilize the slopes, can be more than 80 tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb* \- @7 m  l9 u0 n2 E, r! y- a' o+ F
feet high. Opened in 1904, the site has been named a historic landmark.
8 E$ p9 D) R/ s( ~1 Y' _( oThis photograph was taken Sept. 20, 2007, by astronauts aboard the International Space Station with a digital
, e5 {) q0 _! H公仔箱論壇camera and an 800mm lens.公仔箱論壇$ o: Q& E; X/ d7 m
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Yuba River Goldfields, California.
The Yuba Goldfields are a strange culmination of years of pressure-jet mining for gold upstream in the Sierra Nevada,
dredging the tailings out of the river, and mining the tailings for gold and then later for gravel. The result is an odd
landscape of reddish-brown and gray hills of gravel with water-filled ravines in between.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb# p9 i9 o# Y: {1 H7 C5 T
Shortly after gold was discovered in the Sierra Nevadain 1848, panning gave way to highly destructive hydraulic 公仔箱論壇' e1 l+ m+ l  W0 e# \
mining, which involves blasting sediment away with high-powered jets of water. Gold was extracted from the gravel,
0 X8 w8 a0 e) s. O( L3 Owhich was then dumped and carried downstream by rivers into the Sacramento Valley. The Yuba River ended up with 5.39.217.76% ^0 ^; T$ N3 Y( }
685 million cubic feet of the mine waste, which raised the level of the river, overflowed the banks and buried farms.公仔箱論壇& S8 X9 B2 m, h5 M
Dredging of the Yuba began in 1893, and soon after,mining companies began to sift and re sift through the debris to
extract ever-smaller bits of gold. By 1970, all economically feasible gold removal had been completed, and mining of the 7 x5 ]1 y4 b. g" R
gravel for concrete began. Today, ownership of the land is disputed among mining companies, private owners and the government.
, p( q7 E3 a0 p; t4 m; [This image was taken by the Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer on NASA’s Terra satellite Aug. 29, 2001.5.39.217.76  G8 M$ j$ W4 d- t
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Toquepala Copper Mine, Peru: Y8 _" c4 r9 b- }! T5 E' D( }" U
Located in the Andes Mountains in southern Peru, the Toquepala mine is 1.5 miles wide and 2,300 feet deep.
# B; ^- }: a! ]/ l5 E3 OThe mine’s main output is copper, but it also produces gold, silver and molybdenum. The railroad that was tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb( o) V& t& N7 G3 t# p
constructed to carry the ore 60 miles to the coast can be seen winding down a canyon left of the center, 4 A+ j: @6 J" j2 h! z- r8 G$ f% Z7 }
heading southwest from the mine. This image was captured by astronauts aboard the International Space
! D/ G9 z: A% q5 n; a* B8 u5.39.217.76Station on Sept. 22, 2003.
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Freeport Mine, Indonesia
The Freeport Mine, also known as the Grasberg complex,is a huge mining operation in Indonesia’s Sudirman
+ M! c2 C0 t. XMountains. Copper was discovered here in 1936, and gold was first found in 1988. Today,the mine is one of
" E& \# K2 {# x1 R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 tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb2 B2 n: l: V2 h$ w# t
extensive underground mining in the area as well. Glaciers are also visible in the image.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb0 g% `& w3 F( J# V- B
This photograph was taken June 25, 2005, by astronauts on the International Space Station.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb4 h3 N/ X) e* y0 z" I# j
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Cananea Mine, Mexicotvb now,tvbnow,bttvb! q! G# |2 u! N. F3 i
The Cananea mine is located 25 miles south of the United States border in Sonora, Mexico. The active Colorada
0 B6 X! I+ W6 L8 ~5 r8 EPit in the upper right is 1.6 miles across. It is one of the largest copper producers in the world and also contains
, n+ e9 g& b: U2 sgold. Those two metals are often found together where hot magma forced its way up into the overlying bedrock.
The magma crystallized there while hot fluids circulated through it and into fractures in the surrounding rock,altering
the rock to produce copper-rich minerals and gold.
A 1906 miner’s strike at Cananea turned violent and resulted in 19 deaths, contributing to events that led to the , }1 r4 o" O" R) E: S  N
Mexican Revolution in 1910. Another strike stopped work at the mine in 2007.+ I2 C$ k$ l/ b  J
This image was taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station on March 3, 2008.9 Y. U5 A: t2 U( F. o7 f- b# _

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5 k. t  A( H! {7 H  a$ G3 QPhosphate Mines, Jordan
1 A! {, _4 E. @公仔箱論壇Phosphate mining is an important industry in Jordan,which has abundant deposits of the mineral on approximately 60 公仔箱論壇! `- B  W5 L( |7 Z( U
percent of its territory. Phosphorus is essential to living things, and food can’t be produced without it. Some scientists
, ]" n! J: ?) @fear a shortage of this critical resource is impending and have predicted the world will reach “Peak Phosphorus,” the - F$ T2 `. r6 O$ ]6 @
point at which production will begin to decline, just 30 years from now. There is currently no synthetic alternative.( o) q; Z7 S" _: F% P4 u$ P
This image was capture by the Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer on NASA’s Terra
satellite Sept. 17, 2005. It is a false-color composite of visible and infrared images. Vegetation appears red, water is
blue, and rock and soil can be anywhere from buff to black. The mining operation is the area just left of center in the
1 }7 W+ q/ \6 M: x% Glower part of the image that appears striped.
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New Cornelia Mine, Arizona
$ j" a3 \/ {" u8 Stvb now,tvbnow,bttvbCopper was first mined from this area just south of the mining town of Ajo, Arizona, around 1750. The open-pit mine pictured
above began being excavated in earnest in 1912. It was shut down in 1983 when the price of copper dropped. The scalloped
. q' R8 n) C) d2 ?7 M2 Wland just to the right of the mine is covered in tailings, and the large gray rectangles above that are containment ponds where
- ]6 y( L) ]4 i) i- o公仔箱論壇the metal was extracted.

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Hambach Coal Mines, Germany公仔箱論壇1 r! v+ z4 l3 V& E/ U
The bright white-and-dark-blue–striped areas on the right side of this image are opencast coal mines in mid western Germany. 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/ i$ w4 N9 l
One of the mines is currently being worked by the Bagger 293, the largest machine in the world.The bucket-wheel excavator 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。" g: r) @4 T$ D: A3 w$ {+ Y
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.5.39.217.76/ i& R8 {' j! L& S7 `
This image, captured by the Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer aboard NASA’s Terra satellite 5.39.217.76  W6 ~- H" N: }; X# \  t
Aug. 26, 2000, is a simulated natural-color image. The bright-green rectangular patches are crops, the gray patches are 公仔箱論壇7 q: _1 m2 b% l* V6 r4 V5 u; x
bare ground, and the bluish-gray areas are towns.