earth science

Lihir Island

Lihir Island is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Lihir Island rather than just read about it. In short: Lihir Island (a.k.a. Niolam Island) is the largest island in the Lihir group of islands, 22 km (14 mi) long and 14.5 km (9.0 mi) wide, in Papua New Guinea's New Ireland Province.

Key takeaways

Lihir Island belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Lihir Island to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Lihir Island from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Lihir Island (a.k.a. Niolam Island) is the largest island in the Lihir group of islands, 22 km (14 mi) long and 14.5 km (9.0 mi) wide, in Papua New Guinea's New Ireland Province. It consists of a complex of several overlapping basaltic stratovolcanoes rising 700 m (2,300 ft) above sea level. While the volcanoes are not currently active, geothermal activity is still present. The island is in what was the forearc basin associated with the subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the North Bismarck Plate. Subduction stopped about 10 million years ago with the collision of the Ontong Java Plateau with the subduction zone. The name Lihir comes from the Patpatar language, cognate of the native name Lir. Niolam, also spelled Nualam or Nuolam, means "big island" (nua "island" + lam "big"). The island is located 900 km (560 mi) north east of Port Moresby. Annual rainfall averages 4,800 mm (190 in); temperature ranges between 19 and 35 °C (66 and 95 °F). The population of the Lihir Group increased from 12,570 in 2000 to an estimated 25,608 in 2011. Residents are of Melanesian descent and have predominantly a subsistence lifestyle. Lihirians follow traditional belief systems, although official census records indicate that 99% of the PNG population are Christians, with Catholicism being the largest denomination. Most villages are located on the coastal fringe, although it is thought that originally some villages were located inland but were moved to the coast at the encouragement of missionaries. The economic focal point of the island is the Lihir Gold Mine. Lihir represents one of the largest epithermal gold deposits in the world and it is hosted by high-potassic igneous rocks. The mine is operated by Newmont. The mine holds one of the world's largest gold resources (46 million ounces (1.3 billion grams)). Grab samples from the submarine Conical Seamount, located about 8 km (5.0 mi) south of Lihir Island, contain high gold concentrations of up to 250 g/t (9.0 oz/long ton) Au (avg. 26 g/t (0.93 oz/long ton), n=40) that are hosted by high-potassic trachybasalts. The mine is located on a geothermically active area and to enable the mine to proceed, steam relief wells have been drilled to release subterranean pressure. The steam has, in part, been captured and is used to operate a 50 MW geothermal power station which generates approximately 25% of the mine's power requirements. Mine tailings are discharged into the sea. The largest settlement on the Island is Londolovit, where most of the expatriate mine employees live. Basic shopping and health care facilities are located there. The local hospital has inpatient and outpatient facilities and provides health care services to both the expatriate and local communities. An airstrip large enough to land a small jet is also located north of Londolovit, at Kunaye village, Lihir Island Airport. As is the case in many tropical regions, mosquito-borne viruses are present on the island, as is malaria. Land ownership follows traditional models with land being owned by clans. Insofar as it relates to land ownership, the society is matrilineal with land being passed through the female generations. The land cannot be sold; however, usage rights can be granted. The Island has two large Primary Schools and a Secondary School Located on the Mining impacted area. The largest of the two Primary schools is Sekunkun Primary School which is on the North Eastern part of the Island. The school has total of over 600 students and 19 teachers.

See also List of volcanoes in Papua New Guinea

References

"Lihir". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2021-06-25. Lihir mine information A Case Study on Indigenous People, Extractive Industries and the World Bank. Papua New Guinea.

External links Photos from Lihir Island

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lihir Island

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lihir Island claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Lihir Island before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Lihir Island ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Lihir Island

In research: Lihir Island appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Lihir Island in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Lihir Island is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Complex volcanoes, Islands of Papua New Guinea, New Ireland Province, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lihir Island outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Lihir Island in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Lihir Island means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Lihir Island out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lihir Island in simple terms?

Lihir Island (a.k.a. Niolam Island) is the largest island in the Lihir group of islands, 22 km (14 mi) long and 14.5 km (9.0 mi) wide, in Papua New Guinea's New Ireland Province.

Why does Lihir Island matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Lihir Island?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Lihir Island.