Isle of Rum Report

130023967
ES5303
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Introduction
Green Field Mapping of Tertiary Igneous Complex on the Isle of Rum (Inner Hebrides, NW
Scotland) was performed during 2-day fieldwork for ES5303 Applied field course. The area of
interest located 2-3 km to the southwest from the Kinloch village was divided into quadrants
and mapped by four field parties to evaluate its viability for economic extraction of chromite
ore.

Figure 1. Background
geological map of the
Isle of Rum showing the
area of investigation.

Geological history and terrain

Terrain
Within the ~8 km2 study area between Coire Dubh in the north-west, high ground around
Hallival summit in the south, and the middle reaches of Allt na h-Uamnha and Allt Morn a h-
Uamha in the east (Rum Cuillin), the major object of investigation was the Eastern Layered
Intrusion (ELI).

The fieldwork involved hiking between 500–600 m in elevation over boggy and rough ground
to reach steep jagged peaks of the Rum Cuillin. Due to time constraints and unfavourable
weather conditions, the author’s individual quadrant was restricted to the outcrops between
Cnapan Breaca in the north and Hallival in the south (Figure 8).

Fortunately, absence of widespread vegetation and glacial till partly facilitated field mapping
by offering good exposures traceable along the strike for many tens of meters.

Geological history
Host rocks forming stepped terrain in the northern part are fluvial Torridonian sandstones
deposited over older Lewesian basement.
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After the early Palaeocene (~62 Ma), the region was subjected to multiple magmatic phases.
Thinning and rifting of the Earth’s crust during the opening of the North Atlantic caused magma
upwelling. Eruptive episodes formed igneous complexes on islands of Mull, Skye and Eigg.
On Rum, the Layered Igneous complex represent magma chambers that crystallised within
the Earth’s crust.

The observed variety of types and scales of layering reflect different magma chamber
crystallisation processes which are relevant to the formation of chromite orebodies.

Mapping techniques
The lower ground in the eastern quadrant is occupied by the medium to coarse-grained
reddish arkose. Chevron folds, brecciated zones and steeply inclined bedding in the
sandstone near the igneous complex (Mackay, pers.comm) point to the presence of the ring-
fault structure that characterises other ultramafic igneous complexes (Bushveld, Stillwater).

Brecciated zones contain two types of breccias. Sedimentary breccias located in the north-
eastern quadrant have angular to subrounded megablocks of sandstone (locally imbricated)
in very fine pale groundmass of interstitial feldspars, quartz and biotite.

Magmatic breccias near Cnapan Breaca contain randomly oriented angular pebble-sized
blocks of mafic (coarse-grained gabbro and diorite) and felsic composition (sandstone and
gneiss) in paler dioritic to granodioritic igneous matrix (McNealey, pers. comm).

Resistant mixture of porphyritic rhyolite and dacite is also found in this locality. Rhyolite
contains variable amounts (20–50%) of phenocrysts of quartz and plagioclase and lesser
pyroxenes in feldspathic groundmass. Dacitic component has abundant clinopyroxenes.
Aphanitic mafic enclaves and fiamme suggest a pyroclastic flow deposit from mixed-magma
sources (McNealey, pers. comm.). Two large sheets of fine-grained dark tuff intrude both the
breccias and the rhyodacite.

Igneous lamination in mafic rocks dips regularly between 10-30° towards S-SW. Individual
“mappable unit” are separated by thin chromite-rich layers and essentially represent a
sequence of dark olivine-rich rocks (peridotites) passing upwards gradually into increasingly
feldspar-rich lithologies (troctolites and anorthosites). Such rhythmic pattern served as a basis
for mapping in such “mafic units” rather by individual lithologies.

Fine-scale lamination is best developed in upper feldspathic parts of the sequence because
the proportion of three major constituting minerals varies by the largest amount over short
vertical distances.
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Characteristics of individual mafic units

In Mu1 basal pyroxenite progresses to the coarse-grained, equigranular gabbro (55%
pyroxene and 45% plagioclase) with pseudo sedimentary flow structures. Next is more
feldspar-rich medium-grained gabbro layer (30% pyroxene and 10% amphibole
phenocrysts, 60% interstitial plagioclases). The top of the unit is fine grained,
equigranular almost pure anorthosite (McNealey, pers. comm.)
Mu2 starts with a coarse-grained, equigranular olivine troctolite followed by coarse-
grained and porphyritic olivine gabbro. The uppermost coarse anorthosite with minor
pyroxenes contain a xenolith of ultramafic olivine gabbro (McNealey, pers. comm.)
Mu3. The smooth increase of plagioclase content from basal olivine-rich phase
(weathered out to form grassy slope) to coarse troctolite is interrupted by the
appearance of coarse-grained olivine-rich gabbro. The uppermost layer is distinctly
coarse-grained anorthosite with euhedral platy felspars and clinopyroxenes.
Mu4 and Mu5. In both units, grassy gentle slope representing weathered basal
peridotite is followed by mesocrystalline plagioclase rich-gabbro with patchy texture
(Fig. 2).

Figure 2. Clusters of large euhedral (“cumulate”) pyroxenes and interstitial plagioclase forming patchy texture in
gabbro
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The top of the units are marked by cm-scale and meter-scale modal layering in very
plagioclase-rich phase (>90%).
Mu6 exhibits a complete vertical section from coarse feldspar peridotite via porphyritic
olivine gabbro (interstitial plagioclases) with pyroxenite seams to well-layered
pyroxene within only 15 meters.
Break in the slope marks the base of unit 7. Again, the full sequence is developed
within only ~20m vertically but extends over 200 meters horizontally. Basal
equigranular feldspathic peridotite grades to porphyritic “patchy” olivine gabbro. As
with Mu4, the trend of upward-increasing plagioclase content is disturbed by several
pyroxenite layers with both undulatory and planar sharp bases (Fig.3).

Fig.3. Pyroxenite layer consisting of primary coarse euhedral pyroxenes and small olivines enclosed by interstitial
plagioclases indents laminated troctolite.
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The top of the unit is marked by anorthositic platy rock in which fine-scale igneous
layering defines small-scale folding. This leucocratic part runs along the eastern
slopes of Hallival as distinct rigid escarpment (very fine-grained leucocratic troctolite
crops out ~300m to the southwest along the strike).
Discordant olivine-free thin veins of coarse, green (chrome-rich) clinopyroxene and
felspar crystals cut across layered rocks (Fig.4).

Fig 4. Feldspathic veinlets cutting across layered fine-grained leucocratic troctolites and anorthosites.
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The grassy slope within Mu8 sequence contains an isolated body of olivine-free
gabbro with randomly oriented pyroxenes and plagioclases dipping steeply to the NW
(Fig.5). This olivine-free unlayered gabbro can represent later semiconcordant
intrusion into layered series.

Figure 5. Interlocking cumulate plagioclase and clinopyroxene in NW-dipping sheet of gabbro.

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Similar northwest-dipping olivine-free gabbro is more easily distinguished from the

well-layered olivine-bearing troctolite and olivine anorthosite about 20m up from the
first outcrop.
15-cm thick, almost pure feldspar layer with euhedral plagioclase and minor olivine is
capped by 2-4 mm of monomineralic chromite (Fig.6).

Fig. 6. Thin irregular fine-grained chromite seam between coarse-grained anorthosite of Mu8 and ‘honeycomb’
olivine-rich phase of Mu9.
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Mu9. Basal phase caps the resistant chromite seam and produces irregular table-like
hummocky surface (Fig.7) that continues until the ridge of patchy plagioclase-rich
coarse gabbro. It marks the top of unit 9, as the ridge above is very dark, almost
dunitic base of Mu10.

Fig.7. Table-like exposure of chromite seam capped by irregular lumpy olivine rich troctolite of unit 9.

The position of highest two units (Mu11-Mu12) were inferred from the aerial
photography. and is very likely to follow the partial or whole sequence from olivine-rich
to plagioclase-rich compositions.
Prospectivity and Recommendations
Ubiquitous fine-scale textural, modal and density variation are usually associated with
the winnowing currents within the magma chamber (Ridley, 2015).
However, the key process for forming the economic chromite deposit are the fresh flux
of magma followed by fractional crystallisation and gravity stratification when early
crystallising denser olivines form basal peridotites. Such repeated injections of
ultramafic magmas are responsible for similar large-scale layering in other Ultramafic
complexes, such as Bushveld of South Africa or the Great Dyke of Zimbabwe.
Essentially, when new primitive (olivine-rich) magma is injected to the crystallising
magma chamber, the composition of evolving magma in that chamber is shifted from
cotectic phase boundary. This “perturbation” leads to the precipitation of massive
chromite as thin layers at the interface of the two magma batches. In Rum Central
complex, similar process created thin irregular chromite seam between evolved
anorthositic magmas and the subsequent batch of olivine-rich magma (Ridley, 2015).
In larger layered mafic-ultramafic complexes chromite seams can be up to 1m thick.
Crucially they are more laterally extensive and form economic stratiform and
stratabound orebodies.
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Compared with these larger complexes, the Rhum layered intrusion has very limited
development of economic mineralization. Very thin and laterally discontinuous
chromite cumulate is developed at the junction of units 8 and 9 on the northern slopes
of Halival.
The primary field investigations show that economic extraction of such thin chromite
“orebodies” is unrealistic. Logistical difficulties related to reaching the Isle of Rum with
the required equipment and the remote nature of the area further complicates the next
steps in prospect development. Since Isle of Rum is a National Nature Reserve, there
could be additional legislative complications for any deposit exploration.
In sum, undertaking chromite exploitation projects in Rum Eastern Layered Series is
not recommended.
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Figure 8. Final map of the SW quadrant

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References
 C.H. Emeleus, M.J. Cheadle, R.H. Hunter, B.G.J. Upton and W.J. Wadsworth.
(1996). The Rum Layered Suite. Developments in Petrology. 15 (1), 403-439
 Ridley, J., 2015, Ore deposits geology: Cambridge University Press, 398 p.