CARL VON LINNE AS A GEOLOGIST NATHORST. 719 



During the journey to Westrogothia (1746) , Linne had still further 

 occasion to observe evidences of a former higher sea level, and his 

 comparison of the coast and the outlying archipelago is interesting as 

 an illustration of different stages in the emergence of the land from 

 the sea. * * * 



It should also be remembered that Linne quite correctly attributes 

 to the former action of the sea the origin of the peculiar forms of 

 erosion and grotto formations found in certain parts of the lower red 

 limestone cliff at Kinnekulle. 



Brattefors, at the end of the large meadow opposite Klefwa Church, was 

 well worth inspecting, both on account of its perpendicular height and its 

 peculiar shape; it was thirty-odd yards high and consisted, so to speak, of 

 closely spaced, rounded pillars; tiiese columns exhibited horizontiul striae show- 

 ing the action of time and waves at a time when the land below was covered 

 with an annually retreating bbdy of water. The mountain consists of reddish 

 limestone and rests on a firm slate foundation. At the foot there is a grotto in 

 which several persons may sit perfectly dry under the water as it rushes down 

 from considerable height. 



According to the government geologist, Dr. H. Munthe (Kinne- 

 kulle's various soils, S. G. U., ser. C, No. 172, Stockholm, 1901), the 

 marine border of the Yoldia sea corresponds largely with the lower 

 limestone bed of Kinnekulle, and Linne's hypothesis that a shore for- 

 merly existed at this place, at which time the limestone was excavated 

 in the manner described, is consequently correct. In the Q^conomia 

 Naturse " Brattfors in Wa}stergcctland " is cited as one of the places 



where the sea formerly raged." 



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The shell banks in Bohuslan have long been well known and were 

 cited by Swedenborg in 1719 as evidence of a former higher water 

 level. They were also investigated by Linne, who described the most 

 common of the shell species found : 



The " shell mountains " are justly considered one of the greatest natural 

 wonders of Bohuslan, as they are situated on di"y land, sometimes nearly 11 

 miles from the sea. These mountains consist of the shells of mollusks. * * «: 



Under the black surface soil, which was rarely more than ?, to 6 inches 

 deep, occurred the shell stratum, some 12 to 18 feet in depth, underlaid by pure 

 clay. No shells were seen in the bare and hilly mountains above this 

 stratum. * * * 



******* 



* * * ^11 these shells belonged to marine forms similar to those which 

 exist partly on our own shores and partly on the coasts of Norway, England, 

 and France. It maj^ thus be reasonable to believe that when the sea sur- 

 rounded the " shell mountains," the greater part of the archipelago outside be- 

 ing submerged, thore was here formed an embayment into which these shells 

 were driven by strong west winds. It is not strange that some of them have 

 sought a more southern refuge, since similar conditions may be observed in the 

 Holland herring. These existed first in the belt, and later on our coasts, and 

 now have reached " Lovers Banc." 



" This paragraph appears on page 40 of Nathorst's paper. 



