Two dams at an iron ore mine in southeastern Brazil broke on November 5, 2015, sending mine waste cascading into nearby valleys. The muddy floodwaters destroyed hundreds of homes in the village of Bento Rodrigues, which lies in a valley below the mining area. Natural color images from Landsat 8 compare how the area looked before the breach in the dams to how it looked one week after the incident.

The orange colors along the left side of the images are open pit iron ore mines. The dams burst from the tailings ponds, which hold mine waste. The November 12 image shows the orange sediment flowing down a valley through the dark green rain forest. This sediment may contain mining chemicals that could affect the fertility of downstream farmland. Researchers are still testing the water to get a better idea about the contents of the mine waste.