Jun 20, 2016 7:00 AM

Gallery: Disturbing Aerials Reveal Canada’s Vast Tar Sand Mines

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Oil floats on the surface of a tailing pond near Fort McMurray, Alberta.
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An enormous pit in Fort McMurray, Canada.

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A sweeping aerial view of strip mining near Fort McMurray, Alberta.
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Surface mining of tar sands near Fort McMurray, Alberta leaves huge, teeth-like marks in the landscape.

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A tailing pond near Fort McMurray, Alberta.
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Conveyor belts transport bitumen to a refining plant.

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An access road cuts through the tar sands, littered with massive excavators and other machines.
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Dark shadows cover the grooves in the earth left by mining.

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A lake filled with steaming byproduct from tar sands mining.
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An oil slick stretches across a tailing pond.

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Tar sands mining near Fort McMurray, Alberta.
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An aerial view of tar sands mining in Fort McMurray, Alberta.

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Dump trucks and cranes navigate the landscape.

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