earth science

Porcupine Bank

Porcupine Bank 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 Porcupine Bank rather than just read about it. In short: Porcupine Bank is a raised area on the Irish continental shelf, approximately 200 kilometres (120 mi) west of Ireland. It is 200 m below sea level at its highest.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Porcupine Bank is a raised area on the Irish continental shelf, approximately 200 kilometres (120 mi) west of Ireland. It is 200 m below sea level at its highest.

Etymology The name comes from the bank's discovery in 1862 by HMS Porcupine, a British sail and paddle-wheel ship used mainly for surveying.

Location and features Porcupine Bank is located on Ireland's continental shelf, on the fringes of the Atlantic Ocean approximately 200 kilometres (120 mi) west of Ireland. The relatively raised area of seabed, 200 m below sea level at its highest, lies between the deep-water Porcupine Seabight and Rockall Trough. Porcupine Bank has also been identified with Brasil (also called Hy-Brasil), a phantom island of Irish myth located at approximately the same place as the bank, which was recorded on maps throughout the late Middle Ages. In 1870, eight years after Porcupine Bank's discovery, a paper was read to the Geological Society of Ireland suggesting this identification. The suggestion has since appeared more than once, e.g., in an 1883 edition of Notes and Queries.

Biological significance The northern and western slopes of the bank feature species of cold-water corals. According to Dr. Anthony Grehan of the National University of Ireland, Galway, the virtually untouched site could benefit dwindling fish stocks and possibly aid medical research.

"These are by far the most pristine, thriving and hence spectacular examples of cold-water coral reefs that I've encountered in almost ten years of study in Irish waters. There is also evidence of recent recruitment of corals and many other reef animals in the area suggesting this area is an important source of larvae supply to other areas further along the Porcupine Bank."

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Porcupine Bank

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Porcupine Bank 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 Porcupine Bank 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 Porcupine Bank 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 Porcupine Bank

In research: Porcupine Bank 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 Porcupine Bank 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: Porcupine Bank is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Ireland geography stubs, Marine geography stubs, Undersea banks of the Atlantic Ocean, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Porcupine Bank 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 Porcupine Bank in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Porcupine Bank in simple terms?

Porcupine Bank is a raised area on the Irish continental shelf, approximately 200 kilometres (120 mi) west of Ireland. It is 200 m below sea level at its highest.

Why does Porcupine Bank 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 Porcupine Bank?

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 Porcupine Bank.