The Pilanesberg (formerly Pilandsberg) is a mountain in the
North West Province
North West ( ; ) is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Mahikeng. The province is located to the west of the major population centre and province of Gauteng and south of Botswana.
History
North West was incorporated after the end of ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. 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
Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country.
Pretoria strad ...
and is for the greater part enclosed in a
protected area
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...
known as
Pilanesberg National Park
The Pilanesberg National Park is located north of Rustenburg in the North West Province of South Africa. The park borders on the Sun City entertainment complex. It is administered by the North West Parks and Tourism Board.
The area lies in ...
.
The Elands River flows South of the Pilanesberg in an Easterly direction. There are a number of
platinum
Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...
mines right at the perimeter of the crater formation.
The name "Pilanes" comes from a historic
Tswana
Tswana may refer to:
* Tswana people, the Bantu languages, Bantu speaking people in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and other Southern Africa regions
* Tswana language, the language spoken by the (Ba)Tswana people
* Tswanaland, ...
chief named Pilane.
Geology
Although geographically located within the
Witwatersrand
The Witwatersrand (, ; ; locally the Rand or, less commonly, the Reef) is a , north-facing scarp in South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, w ...
range, the mountain is
geologically
Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth s ...
part of a feature known as the ''Pilanesberg Alkaline Ring Complex''. It is a vast
ring dike
A ring dike or ring dyke is an Intrusive rock, intrusive igneous body that is circular, oval or arcuate in plan and has steep contacts. While the widths of ring dikes differ, they can be up to several thousand meters. The most commonly accepted me ...
of a very ancient extinct
volcano
A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...
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
syenite
Syenite is a coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock with a general composition similar to that of granite, but deficient in quartz, which, if present at all, occurs in relatively small concentrations (< 5%). It is considered a Mindat - Pilanesberg Mt /ref>
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
The Pilanesberg National Park is located north of Rustenburg in the North West Province of South Africa. The park borders on the Sun City entertainment complex. It is administered by the North West Parks and Tourism Board.
The area lies in ...
*
Pilanesberg International Airport
Pilanesberg International Airport is an airport serving Sun City in the North West province of South Africa. It is located adjacent to the Pilanesberg National Park.
Facilities
The airport resides at an elevation of above mean sea level. It ...