Clay pit

As Tonstich clay pit or open-cast mines are known in which one gains clay ( clay minerals ).

The term Tonstich dates from the time when the sound was tapped by hand with a spade. Only at the end of the 19th century continued the mechanization of clay extraction with excavators, such as bucket chain excavators, a.

In areas with high water tables clay pits must be kept dry by pumps. In abandoned Tonstichen there arise artificial lakes, as in the Tonstichlandschaft to Zehdenick in Oberhavel in the German state of Brandenburg.