earth science

Pilanesberg

Pilanesberg 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 Pilanesberg rather than just read about it. In short: The Pilanesberg (formerly Pilandsberg) is a mountain in the North West Province, South Africa. The mountain is an ancient volcanic structure, circular in shape, that rises from flat surrounding plains.

Key takeaways

Pilanesberg 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 Pilanesberg to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Pilanesberg from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Pilanesberg (formerly Pilandsberg) is a mountain in the North West Province, South Africa. The mountain is an ancient volcanic structure, circular in shape, that rises from flat surrounding plains. It is formed by three concentric ridges or rings of hills, of which the outermost has a diameter of about 24 km. The Pilanesberg is located 100 km to the North-West of Pretoria and is for the greater part enclosed in a protected area known as Pilanesberg National Park. The Elands River flows South of the Pilanesberg in an Easterly direction. There are a number of platinum mines right at the perimeter of the crater formation. The name "Pilanes" comes from a historic Tswana chief named Pilane.

Geology Although geographically located within the Witwatersrand range, the mountain is geologically part of a feature known as the Pilanesberg Alkaline Ring Complex. It is a vast ring dike of a very ancient extinct volcano that last erupted some 1,200 million years ago. The Pilanesberg is one of the largest volcanic complexes of its type; there are few similar alkaline volcanic structures in the world. Different types of syenites, including a number of rare minerals, occur in the crater area. The formation of the Pilanesberg occurred 2 billion years ago. As its zenith, the volcano towered to 7,000 metres in height. Over the time, a series of volcanic eruptions occurred. There were further outpourings of lava, craters collapsed, ring fracturing took place around the volcano and magma was squeezed into these fractures. The result is several "onion rings" of rocks of different ages. Erosion over many millions of years has stripped away the mountain and the highest peak. What we see today is not so much a volcanic crater, but a cross section through the magma pipes that were located at great depth below the mountain's summit.

See also Pilanesberg National Park Pilanesberg International Airport Sun City

References

External links

NASA Earth Observatory hi-res photos and article, 22 July 2015 Travel Guide and Information. Interactive 3 D Map and Photographs of the Pilanesberg National Park The Pilanesberg Game Reserve Travel & Safari Guide Platmin Platinum Mine, Pilanesberg, South Africa Archived 23 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine Platmin halts work at Pilanesberg Archived 28 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Pilanesberg

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Pilanesberg 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 Pilanesberg 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 Pilanesberg 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 Pilanesberg

In research: Pilanesberg 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 Pilanesberg 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: Pilanesberg is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Landforms of North West (South African province), Mountains of South Africa, North West (South Africa) geography stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Pilanesberg 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 Pilanesberg in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Pilanesberg 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 Pilanesberg out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pilanesberg in simple terms?

Why does Pilanesberg 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 Pilanesberg?

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 Pilanesberg.