how are quarries filled?

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Jason B

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Not real sure where to post this...I was wondering how quarries get filled with water. Is it from digging until water is hit and the quarry fills or is this a process done by man after the mining is done? Just curious.
Thanks for any insight.
 
In our area we have numerous quarries, some open for diving but most not. One that I know of for sure is spring fed - others may be so below the water table they are filled by ground water and rain.....

great question....now its got me thinking about ours...hhmmmmmm may have to investigate that one.
 
I used to work in strip mines. What typically happens is during the mining process, a spring is struck and they use pumps to keep the water "at bay" until they are done mining. When the pumps are turned off/removed, we get a new dive spot.
 
If you dig a big hole in the ground, it tends to collect water, whether or not you hit springs or groundwater.

Many quarries have pumping units specifically to pump that water out of them.

Granted, I know a lot more about caves than I do quarries.. but quarries tend to open up caves for us every now and then :wink:
 
bubble blower:
Not real sure where to post this...I was wondering how quarries get filled with water. Is it from digging until water is hit and the quarry fills or is this a process done by man after the mining is done? Just curious.
Thanks for any insight.


Actually, the goal during mining operations is to NOT encounter the ground water table. But most of the time it can't be avoided, so large pumps are used to keep the water out once quarrying proceeds below the water table. So most quarries fill up naturally from groundwater seeping in and from rain once they're closed and the pumps are removed. As a side note these “sump holes” where the pump intakes where located are usually the deepest part of a quarry and an interesting area to explore.
 
It'll either be groundwater, a spring, or trapped rainwater.
 
In BC I dive in an ocean teaming with more life than i can ever hope to have the pleasure to explore, and oceans deeper than I could ever hope to go..

It seems hard to believe that people would want to dive in a man made pit full of rain water.

Why do you dive in there? What is the purpose of it? Is there anything in there besides water and mud?
 
I live in North Carolina and we also have an ocean but the hurricanes have been less that cooperative this year so sometimes a quarry is the only chance to get wet. Of course not all divers have access to an ocean and have no other choice than to dive quarries.
Most quarries are full of old mining equipment, rock crushers, etc. Of course they all seem to have their share of sunk cars.
Here's a little gem I found while diving in our local quarry, a milk bottle from 1944.
 
Hey Rimp - We dive there because it is a long drive from Chicago to the ocean shore. Count your blessings being so close to sea life. A lot of the quarries do have sunken boats, planes, old equipment and yes fish (not sure how they get there some times). Other quarries also have rock ledges that are pretty cool. Depending on the quarry, some are very clear...others, well, they are mud pits. If you love this sport like we all do, you do what you can to get underwater. At least I haven't checked my mask seal in my aquarium yet. But if I get desperate...........
 
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