The 10 weirdest big holes in the world

Most of the giant pits on Earth are made by human mining activities like Darvaza gas fires that burn for 45 years or the world's largest Kimberley diamond mine in South Africa. Besides, nature also formed similar giant wormholes.

1. Gas pit Darvaza - Turmenistan

In 1971, geologists discovered underground gas fields in Darvaza. While mining, a collapse created a giant hole. To prevent toxic gas release, people burned it and so far the Darvaza gas pit continues to burn, creating a unique scene on the planet.

2. Kimberly Diamond Mine - South Africa

This diamond mine, also known as Big Hole, is considered the largest artificial pit in the world. From 1866 to 1914 there were 50,000 workers working here with rudimentary tools such as hoes and shovels, exploiting a total of 2,722 kg of diamonds. This work is being registered as a world heritage.

3. Monticello Dam - California

Monticello Dam is located in Napa County, California (USA), has a circular drainage hole with a height of 93m, built from 249,000m of concrete blocks.

The dam has the task of preventing Putah River water and forming Lake Berryessa (the second largest lake in California state).

4. Bingham Mine - Utah

The mine exploits copper in Bingham alley in the Oquirrh mountain range, Utah state (USA) with a depth of 1.2 km and a diameter of 4 km. This is also one of the largest pits in the world created by humans.

5. Giant green pit - Belize

The underwater pit is called the Great Blue Hole , located off Belize, in Central America, formed as a limestone cave at the end of the ice age.

6. Mirny Diamond Mine - Siberia

The mine, with a depth of 525 meters and a diameter of 1,200 meters, is one of the first and largest diamonds in the Soviet Union that has now ended its mission. When operating, it took two hours for the new trucks to travel from the top of the Mirny mine to the bottom in a spiral.

7. Diavik diamond mine - Canada

The mine is located in Canada's Northwest Territories, which started operations in 2003, exploiting 8 million carats (about 1,600 kg) a year.

8. Guatemala crater

In 2007, a sinking hole of nearly 100 meters in diameter swallowed dozens of houses in Guatemala, killing two people and thousands of people evacuating. This slump is created by continuous heavy rains and an underground sewage flow.

9. Udachnaya Mine - Russia

Russia's exposed Udachnaya diamond mine was discovered in 1955 and has a depth of more than 600 meters. Owners of the mine are planning to terminate its operation in 2010 to switch to underground mining.

10. Chuquicamata Mine - Chile

This is an open-cast copper mine with the largest total production in the world, although this is not the leading mine in terms of scale of operation. The mine has a depth of more than 850 meters.