SOME COMMENTS ON THE "ICE-FREE REFUGIA" 

 OF NORTHWESTERN SCANDINAVIA 



GUNNAR HOPPE 

 Department of Geography, University of Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden 



Peculiarities in the distribution of plants and animals in northwestern 

 Scandinavia and the occurrence of endemic species in that region have induced 

 many biologists to postulate the existence of ice-free areas during the last 

 (Wiirm) glaciation. Two main refugia have been localized tentatively, one 

 consisting of coastal areas in northern Norway, including the Lofoten and 

 Vesteralen Islands, the other situated in western Norway and composed of 

 the Stad-Sunmore area and the districts at the mouths of Sognefjord and 

 Stavangerfjord. The "unglaciated" areas are said to be of two kinds : small 

 nunataks rising above the inland ice and larger foreland areas situated above 

 as well as below the present shoreUne. 



In order to prove the existence of refugia, other arguments than biological 

 ones have been used. Areas characterized by glacial cirques, such as the 

 Lofoten Islands, have obviously been sculptured by glaciers, but the preserva- 

 tion of these landforms is interpreted as evidence that there was no continuous 

 inland ice overriding them; if so it should have smoothed out the cirque 

 topography. Pinnacle-like mountain peaks have been regarded as former 

 nunataks. Mountain-top detritus ("Felsenmeer") and the deep weathering of 

 rocks, both supposed to require a very long time to develop, have been 

 considered as other indications of non-glaciation. Furthermore, the continen- 

 tal slope is said to be the definite limit of an inland ice with its fringe of ice 

 shelves; as this slope is not very far from the present shoreUne — outside of 

 Vesteralen only about 10 km — and the inland ice surface probably did not 

 slope steeply, conditions suitable for the existence of nunataks should have 

 been present. Finally, the absence of erratics and glacial striae supported the 

 idea of unglaciated areas. 



However, among other groups of scientists, especially geologists and physi- 

 cal geographers, there was strong opposition to the refugium theory. Some 

 of the arguments for this hypothesis, for instance certain deep-weathered 

 profiles, were rejected. Observations of glacial striae and erratics made in 

 "refugium areas" were said to disprove the hypothesis in those areas. 



The positions for and against the refugium hypothesis were taken up 

 several decades ago, and the main arguments were presented at the same time. 



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