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People have become significant earth movers, outpacing all sources of natural erosion. More and more 公仔箱論壇9 k  e; K, G5 k6 F
of our footprint can be seen from space in many forms, including cities, reservoirs,agriculture and
/ ~( z9 b$ h: y. s: B* X9 W7 ]( Ttvb now,tvbnow,bttvbdeforestation. Among the most impressive human scars on the planet are open-pit mines.
' ~$ m+ y" V: ?We’ve gathered some of the biggest, most spectacular and interesting mines, as captured by
/ U' k: G6 t+ A1 q% l! a" @$ g公仔箱論壇astronauts and satellites on the following pages.
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( ^6 z& I7 S5 Xwww1.tvboxnow.comAbove: Berkeley Pit, Butte, Montana
5 A$ r5 Q- C8 H2 @$ @% Ttvb now,tvbnow,bttvbThis former copper mine operated between 1955 and 1982. Gold and silver were also mined. 1 f, z& p  m1 I1 s: w
An elaborate system of pumps and drains kept the local water level low enough for mining. $ E, R$ X$ G; r5 s3 i# i
Today, the 1,780 foot-deep pit is filled with around 900 feet of very contaminated water filled
# z% v$ S9 h% _: E, a2 O* J2 `公仔箱論壇with metals and chemicals such as arsenic, cadmium, pyrite, zinc,copper and sulfuric acid. The
4 u$ V1 P) s% n5 {公仔箱論壇water can be as acidic as battery acid,and copper can actually be “mined” directly from the water.+ e8 h7 v3 P' I5 _4 B) H3 E" T
Currently, the 1-mile-by-0.5-mile pit is listed as a federal Superfund site with the potential to
( w4 z5 A4 I4 j. D- e: {3 gcontaminate surrounding ground water, and,surprisingly, is also a tourist attraction, complete ( {4 J5 [3 B+ k" m+ q" l) ?% s. |: v
with gift shop and$2 admission fee.
2 ^2 g0 m9 a* R, h- f( u# m% o& S6 P6 Bwww1.tvboxnow.comThis photograph was taken Aug. 2, 2006, by astronauts aboard the International Space Station.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb* }4 m" i5 ?9 ^; k& [

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Escondida Mine, Chile/ X/ R- v9 J* L/ h
The Escondida mine, opened in 1990 at 10,000 feet in northern Chile’s Atacama desert, currently produces 7 \9 P8 F% G* X; H, ~4 g
more copper than any other mine in the world, with 1.5 million tons in 2007, worth more than $10 billion and www1.tvboxnow.com& U& A2 F4 ^; t% y9 i5 Q  L
representing nearly a tenth of world copper production. More than 6,000 people work at the mine.公仔箱論壇* E# M# |+ f' n) }, j: R
This image was captured in 2000 by the Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer 公仔箱論壇: {1 ], @" J) T* f8 p
aboard NASA’s Terra satellite.
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( l6 G  E9 M9 D, mtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbBingham Canyon Mine, Utah
3 Y( S. q. b# R% c% y+ |$ DLocated 20 miles outside Salt Lake City in the Oquirrh Mountains, the Bingham Canyon copper pit has produced
. Y' n3 q; o" zmore than 18million tons of copper over its lifetime, more than any other mine in the world. The pit is about 2.75
# g) s: w  b  r" f& T# r: Mwww1.tvboxnow.commiles wide and 4,000 feet deep. Two Empire State buildings stacked one on top of the the other wouldn’t reach www1.tvboxnow.com' M7 T1 @( n+ w  E
the top. By 2015, the mine will be 500 feet deeper, and a third Empire State building will fit inside. The terraces
; y4 _. k6 I/ F( \公仔箱論壇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2 w* l7 l2 @9 v& C* U
feet high. Opened in 1904, the site has been named a historic landmark.
2 N/ P- o% _( H" b1 {' n2 mtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbThis photograph was taken Sept. 20, 2007, by astronauts aboard the International Space Station with a digital 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/ T2 y* v0 s2 G# s5 R; D. Y
camera and an 800mm lens.
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Yuba River Goldfields, California.
6 ^3 Z- h6 d% E9 f$ |1 Y8 i! k3 X' k8 xTVBNOW 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 Yuba Goldfields are a strange culmination of years of pressure-jet mining for gold upstream in the Sierra Nevada, 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。" k# e4 y& r" a
dredging the tailings out of the river, and mining the tailings for gold and then later for gravel. The result is an odd
  g( S" r$ f) Mlandscape of reddish-brown and gray hills of gravel with water-filled ravines in between.
6 R, y4 c7 {7 w- LShortly after gold was discovered in the Sierra Nevadain 1848, panning gave way to highly destructive hydraulic
) Q3 D' W; C5 Z4 D& y! w; z! z+ B  J$ n公仔箱論壇mining, which involves blasting sediment away with high-powered jets of water. Gold was extracted from the gravel,
. B1 l9 l! H! @7 ktvb now,tvbnow,bttvbwhich was then dumped and carried downstream by rivers into the Sacramento Valley. The Yuba River ended up with 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) `3 u2 O) I+ X! L
685 million cubic feet of the mine waste, which raised the level of the river, overflowed the banks and buried farms.2 H) j( }0 `9 L- U6 g/ P
Dredging of the Yuba began in 1893, and soon after,mining companies began to sift and re sift through the debris to
% `  t" a" X; L) b6 _/ i0 eextract ever-smaller bits of gold. By 1970, all economically feasible gold removal had been completed, and mining of the 9 |- Y4 o1 Y7 ^
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。2 E) z4 i% c$ r. n6 C+ f
This image was taken by the Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer on NASA’s Terra satellite Aug. 29, 2001.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb/ q7 ?  T6 ~. N7 m) _# ]0 V; _+ C

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Toquepala Copper Mine, Perutvb now,tvbnow,bttvb- _1 K* C( B/ d; b/ g1 K
Located in the Andes Mountains in southern Peru, the Toquepala mine is 1.5 miles wide and 2,300 feet deep. www1.tvboxnow.com4 G" u! |- ~3 _0 ~/ j7 s
The mine’s main output is copper, but it also produces gold, silver and molybdenum. The railroad that was tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb9 _+ Z1 S2 ?3 H! X9 R
constructed to carry the ore 60 miles to the coast can be seen winding down a canyon left of the center,
: E$ @' y5 B9 W/ d" p8 f" sheading southwest from the mine. This image was captured by astronauts aboard the International Space
  _* ~' A1 q7 O! A, R4 L$ K5 F1 l* OStation on Sept. 22, 2003.
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Freeport Mine, Indonesia
2 W) u2 `$ w0 {7 GThe 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。/ y% m+ x5 j9 z9 V/ p& i2 z
Mountains. Copper was discovered here in 1936, and gold was first found in 1988. Today,the mine is one of 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 w9 J" e" K( j: V2 m5 f
the largest gold- and copper-extraction operations in the world. The open pit is 2.5 miles wide, and there is tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb- {0 V, l% l! w8 y
extensive underground mining in the area as well. Glaciers are also visible in the image.
9 f( T9 Z" V/ s$ btvb now,tvbnow,bttvbThis photograph was taken June 25, 2005, by astronauts on the International Space Station.
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0 c5 D3 |- s5 q% h! G/ C3 t# N8 cwww1.tvboxnow.comCananea Mine, Mexico公仔箱論壇. m8 O" R4 V# `* F) l
The Cananea mine is located 25 miles south of the United States border in Sonora, Mexico. The active Colorada
3 g5 o7 O7 h  }, H; Q7 [tvb now,tvbnow,bttvbPit 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- a# V5 `9 e* e! y
gold. Those two metals are often found together where hot magma forced its way up into the overlying bedrock.
' f+ _- J9 ?) |The magma crystallized there while hot fluids circulated through it and into fractures in the surrounding rock,altering
' a, R: N) n7 s7 M) g- H公仔箱論壇the rock to produce copper-rich minerals and gold.
/ G* i! z6 W0 ~A 1906 miner’s strike at Cananea turned violent and resulted in 19 deaths, contributing to events that led to the
" z7 j" z$ K8 ]) Y- cwww1.tvboxnow.comMexican Revolution in 1910. Another strike stopped work at the mine in 2007.
8 e0 E4 r6 T/ R+ M! V9 z4 [5 j, j公仔箱論壇This image was taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station on March 3, 2008.
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, ^8 U5 x, Z9 {. V# @/ H5 u0 F/ Itvb now,tvbnow,bttvbPhosphate Mines, Jordan公仔箱論壇. B* ^; P( L( W: N
Phosphate mining is an important industry in Jordan,which has abundant deposits of the mineral on approximately 60 www1.tvboxnow.com8 t3 ^: `: G& q# m, S& Q- h
percent of its territory. Phosphorus is essential to living things, and food can’t be produced without it. Some scientists www1.tvboxnow.com5 t8 r+ U0 f" }9 K
fear a shortage of this critical resource is impending and have predicted the world will reach “Peak Phosphorus,” the
! p4 ]) Z( r* V; [0 Wwww1.tvboxnow.compoint at which production will begin to decline, just 30 years from now. There is currently no synthetic alternative.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb1 d( `; @9 H- H# y  y
This image was capture by the Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer on NASA’s Terra
8 o$ M! a3 c7 Y6 \) ~satellite Sept. 17, 2005. It is a false-color composite of visible and infrared images. Vegetation appears red, water is tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb/ N1 A4 I2 j' z! K. M4 w  ?/ o8 r
blue, and rock and soil can be anywhere from buff to black. The mining operation is the area just left of center in the % H5 f. T0 N% S
lower part of the image that appears striped.公仔箱論壇* Z  a  k/ A7 K* O
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! T/ J7 c, J! E! C: gwww1.tvboxnow.comNew Cornelia Mine, Arizonatvb now,tvbnow,bttvb% D3 B2 O  V1 ]" q; }6 g
Copper was first mined from this area just south of the mining town of Ajo, Arizona, around 1750. The open-pit mine pictured 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 @' M; i+ A7 r/ J" V3 l8 l
above began being excavated in earnest in 1912. It was shut down in 1983 when the price of copper dropped. The scalloped www1.tvboxnow.com  z6 _3 u6 }8 t8 E5 j
land just to the right of the mine is covered in tailings, and the large gray rectangles above that are containment ponds where tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb0 y- Y7 T! u# c+ f: [1 C) s
the metal was extracted.公仔箱論壇: o! z7 C# K" l. M
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1 C/ ^( _/ B" P; T$ e5 i* Y8 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。+ d2 R- A5 F6 }  P- j/ J2 B
Hambach Coal Mines, Germany
( O. K  u2 I( m* b+ Jwww1.tvboxnow.comThe 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。! T6 W+ Z/ C7 H/ f! L% f& D
One of the mines is currently being worked by the Bagger 293, the largest machine in the world.The bucket-wheel excavator
/ j! A7 h' [2 t: S: a; [公仔箱論壇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.
) d2 L( G, Q8 k7 E1 ]* V/ Swww1.tvboxnow.comThis image, captured by the Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer aboard NASA’s Terra satellite www1.tvboxnow.com8 q; E! h, ?8 K# s, M- U; q
Aug. 26, 2000, is a simulated natural-color image. The bright-green rectangular patches are crops, the gray patches are
( _7 A: ^; \4 C2 w; ^4 R- x公仔箱論壇bare ground, and the bluish-gray areas are towns.