this post was submitted on 15 Jun 2024
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A place to share pictures taken from above, that reveal interesting views, fascinating places or different angles to places.
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This is not a rule! You are welcome to share any aerial picture you feel is worth sharing. I just thought that maybe some of you may need a little help. It's really addictive once you get started!
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Are we certain these aren’t lithium extraction pools? Based on the color and variation in color between them and the fact that they’re in the desert, it could be a lithium mine.
Edit: oh some of them are multicolored. Hmm…
Not sure what lithium pool look like, but this is called center-pivot irrigation, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center-pivot_irrigation, and it’s how crops are typically done in the desert where there is no river or canal to pull from. Water is piped from wherever, or drawn up from a well and pumped into the irrigation arm. It’s on wheels and slowly rotates around the point where water is being pumped in. I see these all the time in southern Arizona and California deserts.
You can also see them in Minnesota
https://www.google.com/maps/@46.8353399,-94.9500685,12z/data=!3m1!1e3
Southern Idaho too
They have them pretty much everywhere rain isn't reliable in the summer. There are a bunch on the east coast of the US also.
They likely have them everywhere because it’s a dead simple solution to watering crops. I just live in the desert, so this is where I see them all the time. I figured you wouldn’t need them in place it rained, but it makes sense as different crops have different needs.
The images are in 4K so you can zoom in quite a lot. I think some of the discolorations is down to maybe clouds getting in the way?
I'm pretty sure its farms though https://maps.app.goo.gl/FHveJiWGL8SoHjkD6
They have very clear crop lines, that seems good evidence for OPs assessment.