Craiglockhart Hill is a combination of two summits, Easter and Wester Craiglockhart, in the suburb of

Craiglockhart Craiglockhart (; gd, Creag Longairt) is a suburb in the south west of Edinburgh, Scotland, lying between Colinton to the south, Morningside to the east Merchiston to the north east, and Longstone and Kingsknowe to the west. The Water of Leith i ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

.https://edinburghgeolsoc.org/downloads/rigsleaflet_craiglockharta4.pdf Craiglockart and Edinburgh's Seven Hills Easter Craiglockhart Hill's summit is 158m high. In 2004 this hill was designated a local nature reserve. Wester Craiglockhart Hill has a summit of 175m. The hills are formed of

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or un ...

and

ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

on sandstone. On part of Wester Craiglockhart an exposed upper lava deposit about 30 metres thick features a central area of well-formed columns. When this lava crystallized, a series of hexagonal cracks produced the

columnar structure Columnar jointing is a geological structure where sets of intersecting closely spaced fractures, referred to as Joint (geology), joints, result in the formation of a regular array of polygonal Prism (geometry), prisms, or columns. Columnar joint ...

. The valley between the two summits is called Glenlockhart. The valley took its present form over 17,000 years ago when an ice sheet covered the area. Meltwater from the

Water of Leith The Water of Leith (Scottish Gaelic: ''Uisge Lìte'') is the main river flowing near central Edinburgh, Scotland, and flows into the port of Leith where it flows into the sea via the Firth of Forth. Name The name ''Leith'' may be of Britto ...

, then dammed by ice, cut the channel.

References

External links

Walk Highlands, Craiglockhart Hills
{{Edinburgh-geo-stub Hills of Edinburgh Parks and commons in Edinburgh