Holes on Earth

Karst failure in Guatemala.

Giant crater depth of 150 and a diameter of 20 meters. Caused by groundwater and rainfall. During the formation of the failure of several deaths and destroyed dozens of homes. According to local residents, approximately 2 months near future tragedy felt progress of soil and out of the ground could hear the muffled rumble.







Kimberlite pipe "Mir» (Mir diamond pipe), Russia, Saha.

1200 meters outer diameter and 525 meters depth.

Chronology of development:

06/13/1955 - Opening kimberlite diamond pipe "Mir" - geologists Amakinskoy expedition YI Habardin, EN Elagina and VP Avdeenko.
06. 1956 - MCM USSR decided to start commercial operation of the tube «World».
30.04.2004 - ton of ore mined last.







Quarry Kennecott Bingham Canyon Mine, Utah.

The biggest acting career in the world - the development of copper began in 1863 and is still. About a kilometer deep and three and a half miles wide.





Recently been bombarded with a huge landslide.



Quarry "Dyavik» (Diavik) surrounded by water, Canada.

There is mined diamonds. The quarry is located on the islands has its own infrastructure and the airport capable of receiving Boeing passenger.







Drain hole in the reservoir dam Monticello Dam's, in northern California.

This tube is capable of passing through it 1,370 cubic meters of water per second. Depth of 21 meters. Has the shape of a cone whose diameter at the top is 21, 6 meters, and tapers towards the bottom 8, 4 metra.Sluzhit relief of excess water in the reservoir tank.







Kimberlite pipe "Big Hole", South Africa.

The largest of the excavated "by hand" - 1097 meters in depth. Moved to the surface more than 22 million. M. Of rock and produced 3 tons of diamonds. Development completed in 1914.



Starting from 1866 to 1914, about 50 thousand. Miners dug mine using picks and shovels, developing at the same time 2, 722 tons of diamonds (14, 5 million carats). During the development of career was recovered 22, 5 million tons of soil.

It is here that were found such famous diamonds as "De Beers" (428, 5 carats), bluish-white "Porter Rhodes" (150 carats), orange-yellow "Tiffany" (128, 5 carats). Currently this diamond deposit is exhausted.



The area of ​​the "Big hole" is 17 hectares. Its diameter is 1, 6 km. [1] The hole was dug to a depth of 240 meters, but was then covered with waste rock to a depth of 215 meters, currently bottom of the hole fills the water, its depth is 40 meters.

At the site of the mine before (about 70 - 130 million years ago) was the mouth of a volcano.