The Kilt Rock

The Kilt Rock composition shows different levels of formation. The upper part of the Kilt Rock is an igneous-derived layer of solidified magma - geologically known as a dolerite sill. By standing at the viewpoint, one can look north and see the lighter Jurassic bands, which reach a third of the way up the cliff. When you look, you can see sills of lower tertiary range intruding into the Jurassic sedimentary rock. The basalt columns are five-sided, and represent the solidified magma which has seeped across the Jurassic beds. A similar phenomenon and a very similar sight might be viewed on the west coast of Scotland at Dunstaffnage (Oban), the Island of Staffa, and in County Antrim, Ireland, at the Giant’s Causeway.
The magma, having seeped through fault lines in the Jurassic beds, did not quite reach the surface, but has been since exposed in many places by later glaciers. The evidence of the glaciers is abundant by the many large boulders (or erratics as they are called) strewn on the surface.

Looking south from the location of Staffin slipway, one is able to observe such an erratic on the skyline. Typically, an erratic has a worn, rounded appearance. Most of the massive boulders in the Cath Riabhach (the restored footpath from the centre of Columba 1400 to Staffin Slipway) have been deposited to where they are seen today by the north-moving, receding Ice Age (approx 20,000 years ago). A wide range of sea birds nest on the cliffs here. The sea eagle has become more common here since it was reintroduced to Rum in the 1970s. In Gaelic this magnificent bird is known as iolaire sùil na grèine (eagle of the sunlit eye).