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

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

.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 time scale, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era that spans 60 million years, from the end of the Devonian Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the ...

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 Natural satellite, moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a Fissure vent, fractu ...

and 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. 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 through central Edinburgh, Scotland, that starts in the Pentlands Hills and flows into the port of Leith and then into the sea via the Firth of Forth. Name The ...

, 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