The United States’ highest rate of coal production is in Wyoming, with almost 4 million short tons extracted in 2004. The majority of this coal is burned to generate electrical power within the United States, but a small percentage is also goes to Spain and Canada. The Powder River Basin in the northeastern portion of the state is the most productive of Wyoming’s coal fields. The extensive coal deposits—ranging in thickness from 21 to 53 meters (70 to 175 feet)—formed over 38-66 million years ago. The source of organic material for the coal originated in swamps, estuaries, and deltas associated with the regression (retreat) of a large inland seaway that occupied central North America during the Cretaceous Period, which spanned the years between about 144 to 65 million years ago.
Published Oct 10, 2005
This pair of images shows the growth of a mountaintop removal in the headwaters of Mud River in Boone County, West Virginia, between 1987 and 2002.
Published Dec 23, 2007
Since the mid- to late 1990s, the number and size of coal mines known as mountaintop removal mines increased dramatically in parts of Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky. The final step in processing this coal creates sludge that contains coal dust, sediment, and possibly heavy metals and chemicals. Mine operators contain the coal sludge in nearby valleys, behind huge earthen dams known as valley fills.
Published Apr 25, 2008
Multiple layers of coal lie underground in ancient rocks. In some places, miners remove mountaintops to get at it.
Published Apr 10, 2011
The Surat Basin has 150 million-year-old sediments, four billion tons of proven thermal coal resources, and a bunch of cows.
Published Apr 7, 2019
Surface mines and fly-ash deposits in the Tuzla Basin reveal the region’ long history as a coal-production hub for Bosnia and Herzegovina. This image of the altered landscape was captured on September 21, 2003.
Published Apr 28, 2009
Landsat 5 observed the growth of one of the largest surface mines in the state it expanded from ridge to ridge.
Published Mar 3, 2010
Nestled in a river valley in the Allegheny Mountains, the city first attracted weary travelers, who then stayed for the salt, trees, and coal.
Published Aug 30, 2020
A rare cloud-free photo of the northern end of Semirara Island in the Philippines shows the Panian open-pit mine.
Published Apr 12, 2010
Mountaintop removal mining dramatically changes the topography across thousands of acres. Mountaintop removal mining alters this topography by reducing the elevation of the ridge lines, flattening out the steep slopes, and also by filling in hollows and stream beds with the excess rock and dirt that once topped the mountains.
Published Dec 28, 2007
An astronaut managed to capture the size and detail of the artificial landscape that results from strip mining.
Published Jun 26, 2017
Levels of the air pollutant have dropped by about 80 percent over the eastern United States.
Published Dec 22, 2015
