Scandinavian Mountains

Coordinates: 65°N 14°E / 65°N 14°E / 65; 14
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Scandinavian mountain chain
)

Scandinavian Mountains
Highest point
PeakGaldhøpiggen, Lom
Elevation2,469 m (8,100 ft)[1]
Coordinates61°38′11″N 08°18′45″E / 61.63639°N 8.31250°E / 61.63639; 8.31250
Dimensions
Length1,700 km (1,100 mi)[2]
Width320 km (200 mi)[2]
Naming
Native nameSkanderna, Fjällen, Fjellet, Kjølen, Köli, Skandit (Swedish)
Geography
The Scandinavian Mountains
Countries Sweden
 Norway
 Finland
Range coordinates65°N 14°E / 65°N 14°E / 65; 14

The Scandinavian Mountains or the Scandes is a

North Cape
(Nordkapp).

The mountains are relatively high for a range so young and are very steep in places; Galdhøpiggen in South Norway is the highest peak in mainland Northern Europe, at 2,469 metres (8,100 ft); Kebnekaise is the highest peak on the Swedish side, at 2,104 m (6,903 ft), whereas the slope of Halti is the highest point in Finland, at 1,324 m (4,344 ft), although the peak of Halti is situated in Norway.

The

Scandinavian Montane Birch forest and grasslands terrestrial ecoregion
is closely associated with the mountain range.

Names in Scandinavia

Its names in the Scandinavian languages are, in

Orography

The mountain chain's highest summits are mostly concentrated in an area (of

Swedish Lapland and nearby areas of Norway.[8][A] The southern part of the mountain range contains the highest mountain of Northern Europe, Galdhøpiggen at almost 2,500 m.[10] This part of the mountain chain is also broader and contains a series of plateaux and gently undulating surfaces[8][11] that hosts scattered inselbergs.[11] The plateaux and undulating surfaces of the southern Scandinavian Mountains form a series of stepped surfaces. Geomorphologist Karna Lidmar-Bergström and co-workers recognize five widespread stepped surfaces. In eastern Norway, some of the stepped surfaces merge into a single surface. Dovre and Jotunheimen are rises from the highest of the stepped surfaces.[12] In south-western Norway, the plateaux and gently undulating surfaces are strongly dissected by fjords and valleys.[13] The mountain chain is present in Sweden from northern Dalarna northwards; south of this point the Scandinavian Mountains lie completely within Norway.[8] Most of the Scandinavian Mountains lack "alpine topography",[B] and where present it does not relate to altitude.[11] An example of this is the distribution of cirques in southern Norway that can be found both near sea level and at 2,000 m. Most cirques are found between 1,000 and 1,500 m.[15]

A. Early Miocene, 23 Ma. Interpretation of apatite fission-track data shows that the present-day landscape was deeply buried at this time. The coastal regions (e.g. from Bergen to Stavanger) were buried below a sedimentary cover about 1500 m thick. The mountain plateau of Hardangervidda had not yet been formed, and what is now the plateau surface (red dashed line) was covered by about 750 m of Caledonian rocks. B. Middle Miocene, about 15 Ma. Uplift that began in the early Miocene has led to deep erosion by rivers and to the formation of a flat landscape near sea level. The present-day Hardangervidda (red line), is part of this low-lying landscape where basement rocks are exposed. C. Present day. Renewed uplift that began in the early Pliocene (5 Ma) has raised Hardangervidda to its present elevation of about 1200 m. The sedimentary cover above the basement rocks along the coast has been eroded, and the basement hilly relief that had formed in Middle Jurassic times (175 Ma) is now re-exposed.
Formation of the mountains of southern Norway (the Southern Scandes).[16]

To the east, the Scandinavian Mountains proper bounds with mountains that are lower and less dissected and are known in Swedish as the förfjäll (literally 'fore-fell'). Generally the förfjäll do not surpass 1,000 m above sea level. As a geomorphic unit the förfjäll extends across Sweden as a 650 km long and 40 to 80 km broad belt from Dalarna in the south to Norrbotten in the north. While lower than the Scandinavian Mountains proper, the förfjäll's pronounced relief, its large number of plateaux, and its coherent valley system distinguish it from so-called undulating hilly terrain (Swedish: bergkullsterräng) and plains with residual hills (Swedish: bergkullslätt) found further east.[17]

Climate, permafrost and glaciers

Topographic map of the Jotunheimen and Dovre Rondane areas. Widespread alpine permafrost may be expected at the altitude of the -3.5°C MAAT (red). The glaciation limit (blue) shows the opposite trend.

The climate of the Nordic countries is maritime along the coast of Norway, and much more continental in Sweden in the rain shadow of the Scandinavian Mountains. The combination of a northerly location and moisture from the North Atlantic Ocean has caused the formation of many ice fields and glaciers. In the mountains, the air temperature decreases with increasing altitude, and patches of mountain permafrost in regions with a mean annual air temperature (MAAT) of -1.5 °C will be found at wind exposed sites with little snow cover during winter. Higher up, widespread permafrost may be expected at altitudes with a MAAT of -3.5 °C, continuous permafrost at altitudes with a MAAT of -6.0 °C.[18]

Within the EU-sponsored project PACE (Permafrost and Climate in Europe), a 100 m deep borehole was drilled in bedrock above Tarfala research station at an altitude of 1540 m above sea level. The stable ground temperature at a depth of 100 meters is still -2.75 °C.[19] The measured geothermal gradient in the drillhole of 1.17 °C /100 m allows to extrapolate a permafrost thickness of 330 meters, a further proof that continuous permafrost exists in these altitudes and above, up to the top of Kebnekaise.

In the Scandinavian Mountains, the lower limit of widespread discontinuous permafrost drops from 1700 meters in the west of southern Norway to 1500 meters near the border with Sweden, and from 1600 m in northern Norway to 1100 m in northern, more continental Sweden (Kebnekaise area).[20] In contrast to the lower limit of permafrost, the mean glacier altitude (or glaciation limit) is related to the amount of precipitation. Thus the snow line, or glacier equilibrium line as the limit between the accumulation zone and ablation zone shows the opposite trend, from 1500 meters in the west (Jostefonn) to 2100 meters in the east (Jotunheimen).

Geology

Bedrock

provinces
are shown in yellow and salmon respectively.
Reconstruction showing the collision of three paleocontinents during Caledonian orogeny approximately 390 million years ago. The red line shows where the Iapetus Suture extends in the present day. Note that Scandinavian Caledonides were just one branch of the Caledonian orogeny that affected much of what is now Europe.

Most of the rocks of the Scandinavian Mountains are Caledonian, which means they were put in place by the

provinces. The Caledonian rocks actually form large nappes (Swedish: skollor) that have been thrust over the older rocks. Much of the Caledonian rocks have been eroded since they were put in place, meaning that they were once thicker and more contiguous. It is also implied from the erosion that the nappes of Caledonian rock once reached further east than they do today. The erosion has left remaining massifs of Caledonian rocks and windows of Precambrian rock.[21]

While there are some disagreements, geologists generally recognize four

sedimentary rocks. Pieces of Precambrian shield rocks are in some places also incorporated into the lower nappes.[21]

It was during the Silurian and

post-orogenic collapse in the Devonian, implying tectonic extension and subsidence.[24] Despite occurring in about the same area, the ancient Caledonian Mountains and the modern Scandinavian Mountains are unrelated.[C]

Origin

The origin of today's mountain topography is debated by geologists.

Eastern Greenland or in Australia's Great Dividing Range.[23] The Scandinavian Mountains attained its height by tectonic processes different from orogeny, chiefly in the Cenozoic.[26] A two-stage model of uplift has been proposed for the Scandinavian Mountains in South Norway. A first stage in the Mesozoic and a second stage starting from the Oligocene.[22] The uplift of South Norway has elevated the westernmost extension of the sub-Cambrian peneplain which forms part of what is known as the Paleic surface[D] in Norway.[29][30] In South Norway, the Scandinavian Mountains had their main uplift phase later (Neogene) than in northern Scandinavia which had its main phase of uplift in the Paleogene.[31] For example, the Hardangervidda uplifted from sea level to its present 1200–1100 m in Early Pliocene times.[32]

The various episodes of uplift of the Scandinavian Mountains were similar in orientation and tilted land surfaces to the east while allowing

normal faults and not by fault-less doming.[33][34] Therefore, the common labelling of the southern Scandinavian Mountains and the northern Scandinavian Mountains as two domes is misleading.[33] There are divided opinions on the relation between the coastal plains of Norway, the strandflat, and the uplift of the mountains.[E]

Unlike orogenic mountains, there is no widely accepted geophysical model to explain elevated passive continental margins such as the Scandinavian Mountains.[40] Various mechanisms of uplift have, however, been proposed over the years. A 2012 study argues that the Scandinavian Mountains and other elevated passive continental margins most likely share the same mechanism of uplift and that this mechanism is related to far-field stresses in Earth's lithosphere. The Scandinavian Mountains can according to this view be likened to a giant anticlinal lithospheric fold. Folding could have been caused by horizontal compression acting on a thin to thick crust transition zone (as are all passive margins).[41][42]

Alternative lines of research have stressed the

Iceland plume when Greenland and Scandinavia rifted apart about 53 million years ago.[43]

Quaternary geology

Many slopes and valleys are straight because they follow tectonic

normal faults tend to be straight.[11]
There is evidence that the
ice streams.[15] At some locations coalesced cirques form arêtes and pyramidal peaks. Glacial reshaping of valleys is more marked in the western part of the mountain chain where drowned glacier-shaped valleys constitute the fjords of Norway. In the eastern part of the mountain chain, glacial reshaping of valleys is weaker.[8] Many mountain tops contain blockfields which escaped glacial erosion either by having been nunataks in the glacial periods or by being protected from erosion under cold-based glacier ice.[13] Karst systems, with their characteristic caves and sinkholes, occur at various places in the Scandinavian Mountains, but are more common in the northern parts. Present-day karst systems might have long histories dating back to the Pleistocene or even earlier.[13]
Much of the mountain range is mantled by deposits of glacial origin including till blankets, moraines, drumlins and glaciofluvial material in the form of outwash plains and eskers. Bare rock surfaces are more common in the western side of the mountain range. Although the ages of these deposits and landforms vary, most of them were formed in connection to the Weichselian glaciation and the subsequent deglaciation.[13]

Reconstruction of Europe during the Last Glacial Maximum of the Weichselian and Würm glaciations periods. note that the whole of the Scandinavian Mountains are covered with glacier ice (white).

The

ice-dammed lakes. About 10 ka BP, the linkage had disappeared and so did the southern centre of the ice sheet a thousand years later. The northern centre remained a few hundred years more, and by 9,7 ka BP the eastern Sarek Mountains hosted the last remnant of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet.[46] As the ice sheet retreated to the Scandinavian Mountains it was dissimilar to the early mountain glaciation that gave origin to the ice sheet as the ice divide lagged behind as the ice mass concentrated in the west.[44]

Highest mountains

Norway

Of the 10 highest mountain peaks in Scandinavia (

prominence greater than 30 m or 98 ft), six are situated in Oppland, Norway. The other four are situated in Sogn og Fjordane
, Norway.

  1. 2,469 m (8,100 ft) Galdhøpiggen (Innlandet)
  2. 2,465 m (8,087 ft) Glittertind (Innlandet)
  3. 2,405 m (7,890 ft) Store Skagastølstind (Vestland)
  4. 2,387 m (7,831 ft) Store Styggedalstinden east (Vestland)
  5. 2,373 m (7,785 ft) Skarstind (Innlandet)
  6. 2,369 m (7,772 ft) Vesle Galdhøpiggen (Innlandet)
  7. 2,368 m (7,769 ft) Surtningssue (Innlandet)
  8. 2,366 m (7,762 ft) Store Memurutinden (Innlandet)
  9. 2,351 m (7,713 ft) Jervvasstind (Vestland)
  10. 2,348 m (7,703 ft) Sentraltind (Vestland)

Sweden

There are 12 peaks in

Sami
but with the more common Swedish spelling of it.

  1. 2,104 m (6,903 ft)
    Lappland
    ) – Note: Altitude includes the peak glacier. If melting continues, Kebnekaise Nordtoppen, just 500 meters away and 7 meters lower, might become the highest point.
  2. 2,097 m (6,880 ft) Kebnekaise Nordtoppen (Lappland) – the highest fixed point in Sweden.
  3. 2,089 m (6,854 ft) Sarektjåkkå Stortoppen (Lappland)
  4. 2,076 m (6,811 ft) Kaskasatjåkka (Lappland)
  5. 2,056 m (6,745 ft) Sarektjåkkå Nordtoppen (Lappland)
  6. 2,043 m (6,703 ft) Kaskasapakte (Lappland)
  7. 2,023 m (6,637 ft) Sarektjåkkå Sydtoppen (Lappland)
  8. 2,016 m (6,614 ft) Akka Stortoppen (Lappland)
  9. 2,010 m (6,594 ft) Akka Nordvästtoppen (Lappland)
  10. 2,010 m (6,594 ft) Sarektjåkkå Buchttoppen (Lappland)
  11. 2,005 m (6,578 ft) Pårtetjåkka (Lappland)
  12. 2,002 m (6,568 ft) Palkatjåkka (Lappland)

Other popular mountains for skiers, climbers and hikers in Sweden

Finland

Landscape as seen from Meekonvaara (1019m) towards the highest fells
  1. 1,324 m (4,344 ft) Halti (Lappi/Lapland and Norwegian Troms)
  2. 1,317 m (4,321 ft)
    Ridnitsohkka
    (Lappi/Lapland)
  3. 1,280 m (4,200 ft) Kiedditsohkka (Lappi/Lapland)
  4. 1,240 m (4,068 ft) Kovddoskaisi (Lappi/Lapland)
  5. 1,239 m (4,065 ft) Ruvdnaoaivi (Lappi/Lapland)
  6. 1,180 m (3,871 ft) Loassonibba (Lappi/Lapland)
  7. 1,150 m (3,773 ft) Urtasvaara (Lappi/Lapland)
  8. 1,144 m (3,753 ft) Kahperusvaarat (Lappi/Lapland)
  9. 1,130 m (3,707 ft) Aldorassa (Lappi/Lapland)
  10. 1,100 m (3,608 ft) Kieddoaivi (Lappi/Lapland)

See also

Scandinavian Mountains, an Alpine Biogeographic Region as defined by the European Environment Agency and corrected by the Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management: red = Alpine region, yellow = Atlantic region, green = Boreal region, blue = Arctic region

Notes

  1. ^ The two high areas, north and south of Trondheim, have been usually referred to as "domes" but technically they are not geological domes.[9]
  2. glacial valleys. The other half is made up of coastal mountains and intermediate-relief glacial valleys.[14]
  3. orogenic collapse for a long period starting in the Devonian.[23][26][24] Another problem with this model is that it does not explain why other former mountains dating back to the Caledonian orogeny are eroded and buried in sediments and not uplifted by their "roots".[23]
  4. ^ After being first described by Hans Reusch in 1901 the Paleic surface was subject of various interpretations in the 20th century.[23][28]
  5. ^ Tormod Klemsdal regard the strandflat as old surfaces shaped by deep weathering that escaped the uplift that affected the Scandinavian Mountains,[35] a view concordant with a Triassic (c. 210 million years ago) origin for the strandflat postulated in the 2010s by Odleiv Olesen, Ola Fredin and their respective co-workers.[36][37] Yet Hans Holtedahl claimed in 1998 that strandflats formed after a Tertiary uplift the mountains noting however that in Trøndelag between Nordland and Western Norway the strandflat could be a surface formed before the Jurassic, then buried in sediments and at some point freed from this cover.[38] Haakon Fossen and co-workers added to the debate in 2017 that movement of geological faults in the Late Mesozoic should imply the strandflats of Western Norway took their final shape after the Late Jurassic or else they would occur at various heights above sea level.[39]
  6. ^ These are the Northern Patagonian Ice Field, Southern Patagonian Ice Field and the Gran Campo Nevado.

References

  1. ^ "Galdhøpiggen". Nationalencyklopedin (in Swedish). Retrieved 18 July 2010.
  2. ^ a b Lindström, Maurits. "fjällkedjan". Nationalencyklopedin (in Swedish). Retrieved 18 July 2010.
  3. ^ "- Nordryggen, hæ ?" [The North Ridge, what]. Dagbladet (in Norwegian). 14 September 2013.
  4. ^ "Geo365 – Nordryggen: Rotfestet i norsk navnetradisjon". www.geo365.no.
  5. ^ TT (14 September 2013). "Fjällen får nytt norskt namn – SvD". Svenska Dagbladet.
  6. ^ Radio, Sveriges (14 September 2013). "Norge namnger fjällen – kallar dem Nordryggen – Nyheter (Ekot)". Sveriges Radio.
  7. ^ "The delineation of European mountain areas" (PDF). Mountain Areas in Europe – Final Report. European Commission. p. 27. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Rudberg, Sten (1960). "Geology and Morphology". In Somme, Axel (ed.). Geography of Norden. Heinemann. pp. 27–40.
  9. .
  10. ^ Askheim, Svein (14 December 2017). "Den skandinaviske fjellkjede" – via Store norske leksikon.
  11. ^
    S2CID 129912355
    .
  12. .
  13. ^ .
  14. ^ Etzelmüller, Bernd; Romstad, Bård; Fjellanger, Jakob (2007). "Automatic regional classification of topography in Norway". Norwegian Journal of Geology. 87: 167–180.
  15. ^ .
  16. .
  17. ^ Terrängformer i Norden (in Swedish). Nordiska ministerrådet. 1984. p. 10.
  18. .
  19. .
  20. ^ King, Lorenz (1983). "High Mountain Permafrost in Scandinavia". Permafrost: Fourth International Conference, Proceedings: 612–617.
  21. ^ .
  22. ^ .
  23. ^ . Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  24. ^ .
  25. ^ .
  26. ^ .
  27. ^ .
  28. .
  29. ^ Lidmar-Bergström, Karna. "Paleiska ytan". Nationalencyklopedin (in Swedish). Cydonia Development. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  30. .
  31. ^ a b Lidmar-Bergström, K.; Näslund, J.O. (2002). "Landforms and uplift in Scandinavia". In Doré, A.G.; Cartwright, J.A.; Stoker, M.S.; Turner, J.P.; White, N. (eds.). Exhumation of the North Atlantic Margin: Timing, Mechanisms and Implications for Petroleum Exploration. Geological Society, London, Special Publications. The Geological Society of London. pp. 103–116.
  32. S2CID 134575021
    .
  33. ^ .
  34. .
  35. .
  36. ^ Olesen, Odleiv; Kierulf, Halfdan Pascal; Brönner, Marco; Dalsegg, Einar; Fredin, Ola; Solbakk, Terje (2013). "Deep weathering, neotectonics and strandflat formation in Nordland, northern Norway". Norwegian Journal of Geology. 93: 189–213.
  37. PMID 28452366
    .
  38. ^ Holtedahl, Hans (1998). "The Norwegian strandflat puzzle" (PDF). Norsk Geologisk Tidsskrift. 78: 47–66.
  39. PMID 29138403
    .
  40. ^ Bonow, Johan M. (2009). "Atlantens kustberg och högslätter – gamla eller unga?" (PDF). www.geografitorget.se (in Swedish). Geografilärarnas Riksförening.
  41. .
  42. ^ Løseth and Hendriksen 2005
  43. ^ Nielsen, S.B.; Paulsen, G.E.; Hansen, D.L.; Gemmer, L.; Clausen, O.R.; Jacobsen, B.H.; Balling, N.; Huuse, M.; Gallagher, K. (2002). "Paleocene initiation of Cenozoic uplift in Norway". In Doré, A.G.; Cartwright, J.A.; Stoker, M.S.; Turner, J.P.; White, N. (eds.). Exhumation of the North Atlantic Margin: Timing, Mechanisms and Implications for Petroleum Exploration. Geological Society, London, Special Publications. The Geological Society of London. pp. 103–116.
  44. ^ .
  45. .
  46. .

External links

Media related to Scandinavian Mountains (range) at Wikimedia Commons