Holes

In the book Holes, the boys dug lots of holes...
but men and Mother Nature are doing it on a much larger scale:

The Bingham Canyon Mine in Utah is the largest man-made excavation on earth. Extraction began in 1863 and still continues today. Ever increasing in size, the pit is currently miles deep and 2.5 miles wide. It is one of two man-mad things that can be seen from space, the other being the Great Wall in China.

The Diavik Mine in Canada is so huge and so remote that it has its own airport with a runway large enough to accommodate a Boeing 737. Sometimes, the surrounding water is complelely frozen.

The Mirny Diamond Mine in Eastern Siberia is the largest open diamond mine in the world. At 525 meters deep, with a diameter of 1,200 meters, there is even a no-fly zone above the hole due to a few helicopters having been sucked in.

The Kimberley Big Hole in South Africa is the largest ever hand-dug excavation in the world. This 1,097 meter deep mine yielded over 3 tons of diamonds before closing in 1914.

A glory hole is used when a dam is at full capacity and water needs to be drained from the reservoir. This Glory Hole in the Monticello Dam, in California, is the largest spillway of this type in the world. It is able to consume 14,400 cubic feet of water every second.

This Sinkhole occurred recently in Guatemala. The hole swallowed a dozen homes and killed at least 3 people.

This incredible geographical phenomenon known as a Blue Hole is situated 60 miles off the mainland of Belize. There are many blue holes around, but none as stunning as this one.