本文选自《有才》的博客，点击查看博客原文

　　In man's search for mineral wealth, many enormous holes have beendug. In addition, nature occasionally produces some astounding holes.This list is a pick of the ten most spectacular natural or manmadeholes in the face of the earth。

　　人类在挖矿石时经常会挖掘出非常巨大的矿洞，此外，自然界有时会形成令人惊叹壮观的洞穴，以下是美国媒体列举的地球表面最壮观的自然或人为洞穴。

　　1. Darvaza Gas Crater-Turkmenistan 土库曼斯坦达尔瓦扎天然气坑洞

　　In 1971, geologists discovered a massiveunderground deposit of natural gas on this site. Whilst excavating thehole to tap the gas, thedrilling rig collapsed leaving a massive hole.To prevent poisonous gasses from escaping, the hole was allowed toburn. It continues to burn to this day and has done so without ceasing。

　　1971年，地质学家发现该区域蕴藏着大量的地下天然气，在常年的开采过程中，由于不慎出现钻探环状坍塌，从而形成了一个非常大的坑洞。为了防止有毒气体溢出，土库曼斯坦政府允许对坑洞中的天然气进行燃烧，这个坑洞从白天到晚上一直处于熊熊烈火燃烧状态。因此，这处燃烧的天然气坑洞也被人们称为 “地狱之门”。

　　2. Kimberley Diamond Mine-South Africa 南非金伯利钻石矿坑

　　The Kimberley Diamond Mine (also known as theBig Hole) holds the (disputed) title of being the largest hand-dug holein the world. From 1866 to 1914 50,000 miners dug the hole with picksand shovels, yielding 2,722 kg of diamonds. Attempts are being made tohave it registered as a world heritage site。

　　金伯利钻石矿坑被认为是世界上最大的人力挖掘矿坑，从1866年至1914年，50000名矿工使用铁铲等工具进行挖掘，共挖掘出2722公斤钻石。目前，南非政府正试图将金伯利矿坑申请为一处世界文化遗址。

　　3. Monticello Dam-California 美国加州蒙地赛罗水坝

　　The Monticello Dam is a dam in Napa County,California, United States most noted for its large circular spillwaywith a rate of 48,400 cubic feet per second。

　　蒙地赛罗水坝位于美国加州绿帕县，这是美国大型循环泄洪道，每秒可泄洪48400立方英尺。

　　4 Bingham Canyon Mine-Utah 美国犹他州宾汉姆峡谷铜矿坑

　　The Bingham Canyon Mine is a copper mine inthe Oquirrh mountains, Utah. The mine is 0.75 mile (1.2 km) deep, 2.5miles (4 km) wide. It is the world's largest manmade excavation。

　　宾汉姆峡谷铜矿位于犹他州奥克尔(Oquirrh)山脉，这处矿坑深1200米，宽4000米。这是当前世界上最大的人为挖掘矿坑。

　　5. Great Blue Hole-Belize  洪都拉斯蓝洞

　　The Great Blue Hole is an underwater sinkholeoff the coast of Belize. The hole is 1,000 feet across and 400 feetdeep. It was formed as a limestone cave during the last iceage

　　洪都拉斯伯利兹市附近海域有一处叫做“蓝洞”的水下坑洞，这个大洞直径为1000英尺，深400英尺。它是在冰河时代末期形成的一个石灰石坑洞。