Pilot Mountain, North Carolina

Pilot Mountain is a monadnock in Surry County, North Carolina, in the United States, about twenty miles northwest of Winston-Salem, and one of the most recognizable natural landmarks in the state, a remnant of the ancient Sauratown Mountains chain. Its main summit, the Big Pinnacle, rises to 2,421 feet, about 738 meters, and is composed of quartzite that is about 98 percent pure, formed when Gondwanan beach sand was compressed and heated as it was thrust beneath the ancient continent of Laurentia during the Alleghenian Orogeny; the adjoining Little Pinnacle is built of biotite gneiss layered with schist. As the softer surrounding rock eroded away over millions of years, the much harder quartzite core remained standing, producing the mountain's distinctive dome. This entity documents Pilot Mountain specifically as a geological formation, the North Carolina landform, distinct from other peaks sharing the same name in Alberta, British Columbia and Yukon.