Florida Resources Lowerlevel_01


Imagine you are a space explorer. You were sent out to search other solar systems to look for signs of life. You notice one solar system that has one Sun and eight planets. You steer your spacecraft toward the third planet from the Sun. It looks promising. From your studies, you know that liquid water is connected to life. Water is an important indicator for life since all living things need water to survive. That blue planet is about the right distance from the Sun to have liquid water.


Earthlings are very familiar with these objects. The first is the Great Wall of China. The second is the Great Pyramids of Egypt. What is the third object that can be seen from space? Florida earthlings should know. It is in their backyard.

Yes! This third object is the spoil pile from the mining of phosphate. Miners dig the phosphate from the earth. As they do, they place the waste product in large piles. These large piles of material are called phosphor–gypsum stacks. These mounds are so big they can be seen from space. They dot the landscape in southwest Florida.