pan. zoom out. repeat.

February 20, 2009 3:04 PM

gmaps filter: what am i looking at?

seems to be related to mining, there are oil derricks in the area.

i cant imagine how much fun it was to make alllllll those lines...

posted by sponge to Grab Bag (5 answers total)

I can't see any vegetation but I was thinking of rice paddies, laid out by some sort of computerized gps program. But that is just a wild guess.
posted by Danf at 3:10 PM on February 20, 2009

Given the obvious water flow in the area, I wonder if it isn't some sort of massive erosion-control system. The patterns do seem to generally run perpendicular to the apparent flow, cutting across the mountain sides.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:21 PM on February 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

Looks like mining to me, too. But it could be some kind of mega-project intended to place gigatons of dirt into low Earth orbit at a moment's notice.
posted by Kikkoman at 3:23 PM on February 20, 2009

Best answer: According to this person, it's sounds like geologic research.
posted by oneirodynia at 5:15 PM on February 20, 2009

my first thought was seismic lines for oil and gas research but these are obviously different. some geological surveys involve massive trucks (can't find a photo, though i've seen 'em) that shoot soundwaves through the earth from pads that get lowered against the ground.
posted by klanawa at 8:38 PM on February 20, 2009