Peru, Feb 13: NASA published rare and spectacular photographs of the Peru’s Amazon rainforest showing large rivers of gold along the Inambari River. These are believed to be large pits of gold which would have been illegally dug by unlicensed miners. The pits are generally covered by clouds and are away from the Sun’s light, thus are hidden from the astronaut’s view. In these pictures, they are shining brilliantly due to reflecting the Sun’s bright light. The magnificent pits which look like basins filled with water, surrounded by mud, are seen cutting through the Amazon rainforest in Peru’s Madre de Dios state. Peru is the sixth largest producer of gold in the world. Illegal mining is quite prevalent here. The main cause of deforestation is mining and pollution due to usage of mercury in gold extraction.
the International Space Station. Image credit: earthobservatory.nasa.gov