Quarry Worry
Quarry Worry Is there anything to worry about quarries? Why would we worry on just a deep pit which once was a piece of land? The problem is- it once was a piece of land. Most of the quarries end up useless open- pit mines with danger signs stuck on the outskirts. Stone is vitally to our modern lifestyle and so such requirement can only be established by cutting these stones from quarries. In the Maltese Islands, quarries are hollowed out to extract mineral resources from geological formations. The extracted raw materials are used mainly by the quarry industry for the construction of buildings connected to services and economic activities. Some of these examples include: houses, hospitals, offices, churches and roads. In Malta the localities were quarries can be found are Mosta, Valletta, Marsascala, Mellieha, Mqabba, Siggiewi, Qrendi, Zejtun and Swieqi. The problem with quarries is that each quarry has a specific lifetime within which the mineral resources can be extracted. In the case of Malta, this happens when the lower coralline limestone is encountered while quarrying. Quarries which were once of a social and economic benefit, end up being an irreversible scar in the landscape of the Maltese Islands. The disused quarries have to be closed as a good precaution of any harm; however the impact of quarries on the natural environment is endless. Direct impacts include loss of agricultural land which results in loss of natural habitats for animals and wild plants. Other environmental impacts include change in geological features, damaging for crops and fields, soil erosion and noise and dust pollution.
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