In science class in 7th grade, there was an image in a book of how something like a pipe could be inserted in the ground and then pulled up. The contents could then be analyzed. One could see the various layers of soils, clays, earth that lay below. Those layers in a way told the natural formative history of local lands, and gave information about nutrient content, acidity, density and water. This information could be used by farmers trying to determine what crops might fair best in this location. It might be used by investors and explorers seeking petroleum.
When we humans carry out major projects with huge machinery, and hollow out the land to great depths, I suppose we lose some of that ancient history. Sometimes we use such diggings as filler elsewhere. The land becomes more like rubble. While many wonderful plants and trees can indeed grow atop this jumbled material, something of the natural integrity of the land and the life it supported is lost.
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