436 I. Р. Косн. 
left оп the peaks, when it melted ой, the fine grinding powder has 
been washed down into the hollows, and only a few scattered, larger 
or smaller, loose stones remain. 
The western side of the peaks, the stossseite (the exposed side) 
is generally the steepest, and here the grinding process has been 
strongest. — 
In the hollows between the peaks the bedrock is covered with 
loose material, which has partly been left there by the ice, and 
partly has been washed down from the peaks. Where in’its time 
the ice has overridden a fairly large ridge, for instance Varderyggen 
or the northern part of Store Koldewey, it is a considerable quantity 
of loose débris which one meets with on the lee side. The loose 
material is possessed of a relatively high degree of mobility. This 
is partly accounted for by the fact that the sparse vegetation cannot 
to any material extent help to make clay, sand and gravel adhere 
to the slopes, and partly by the high arctic climate, the result of 
which is that the bottom is frozen to a great depth all the year 
round. Only in the months July and August the upper layer is 
thawed to a depth of a few decimetres. As the water cannot escape 
in a downward direction through the frozen bottom, a slush is formed 
on the slopes, where there is ample drainage from the melting snow 
above, which slush slowly glides downwards on the frozen sub- 
stratum. Attention is directed to this motion in the surface through 
the fact, that one very often comes across flat stones, which stand 
on edge, and the greater part of which projects freely from the ground. 
This seemingly unnatural position occurs, when during the gliding 
motion the front edge of the stone meets with resistance, for instance 
another stone, which adheres to the frozen bottom, and the upper 
part of which projects into the slush. The pressure of the gliding 
masses then overturns the flat stone. In quite exceptional cases do 
we meet with large areas, of a plain-like character, which glide in 
this manner. This is for instance the case south-west of Hellefjord, 
where a single large bottom opens towards the ice fjord of Stor- 
strømmen, off Bræoerne. This bottom, the area of which is nearly 
30 square km, is covered with grass, and its declivity is only a 
slight one. Nevertheless the upper layer of earth in the bottom of 
the valley glides slowly down towards the ice fjord. 
On the lee-side of the larger ridges, where there are not only 
more considerable quantities of loose material, but. where there is 
also an ample supply of melting water, the loose material has a 
strong tendency towards filling up all the depressions in the surface. 
The terrain here forms terraces with nearly horizontal surfaces; 
there are only few and small lakes, presumably shallow; still the 
