If We Weren’t the First Industrial Civilization on Earth, Would We Ever Know?

Re:If We Weren’t the First Industrial Civilization on Earth,... by Merrill on Monday July 20, 2020 @02:39PM (#23900607)

There are some open pit mines that are likely to last quite a while. The largest is 4 km wide by 1.2 km deep and even if filled in by drifting sands, it would be unmistakably artificial. https://blog.iseekplant.com.au/blog/5-largest-open-pit-mines

Dams are also likely to be detected. The dams themselves may have disappeared, but the artificial sediment beds in the valleys upstream will likely persist for a very long time.

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Re:If We Weren’t the First Industrial Civilization on Earth,... by foepys on Monday July 20, 2020 @03:07PM (#23900876)

That list doesn't include Tagebau Garzweiler, a 66km² (Garzweiler I) plus 48km² (Garzweiler II) large coal mining area in Germany. It's home to Bagger 288 [1] and Bagger 293 [2], some of the largest vehicles on earth.

The English Wikipedia article is surprisingly short but the German one is pretty long [3].

Starting 2030 Garzweiler will be filled with water until the year 2100 and create a 74km² large lake.

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagger_288

2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagger_293

3: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tagebau_Garzweiler (use DeepL if you don't speak German)

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