'Gold Rush': NASA's stunning image shows Gold Peruvian Amazon rivers

An astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) took a few stunning images of the various gold pits in East Peru. Just next to the pit, one can see multiple meandering channels of the Inambari River. The pits were hidden from the astronaut’s view by cloud cover or outside the Sun’s glint point. According to a blog by the Earth Observatory, the river and the pits cut through the otherwise unbroken Amazon rainforest in Peru’s Madre de Dios state.

The prospecting pits appear like hundreds of tightly packed water-filled basins. It is being assumed that the pits have been dug up by independent miners. Also, each pit is surrounded by de-vegetated areas of muddy spoil. These deforested tracts follow the courses of ancient rivers that deposited sediments, including gold. 

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(Image Credits: earthobservatory.nasa.gov)

(Image Credits: earthobservatory.nasa.gov)

All that you need to know

In Peru, Mining is considered to be the main cause of deforestation. Also, Madre de Dios is home to one of the largest independent gold mining industries in the world. The deforestation in the region has contributed to mercury pollution from the gold-extraction process. Even after such dramatic consequences, tens of thousands of people earn their living from this unregistered mining.

As per the blog, the image was acquired on December 24, 2020, with a Nikon D5 digital camera using a 400 millimeter lens and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Johnson Space Center. It has been taken by a member of the Expedition 64 crew. The blog says that it has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast, and lens artifacts have been removed.

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The image also shows the small town of Nueva Arequipa, which is right next to the Southern Interoceanic Highway. According to the blog, the highway was inaugurated in 2011 and is considered the only road connection between Brazil and Peru. The highway was constructed with the aim of stimulating trade and tourism. However, due to great expansion of surface prospecting, deforestation has become a mere consequence of the highway. Some areas in the state are protected from mining, such as the Tambopata National Reserve.

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(Image Credits: RepresentativeImage)