46 FRIDTJOF NANSEN. M.-X. Kl. 



weak, it woulil lianlly l)C aljlc t(j form a straii'lflai of much uirllli, even 

 thoLig'h it could wdik (lurinj^- llic loiif^-est ^l-( )\< )^\c'd\ time we mij^^lit possibly 

 imagine. 



Alonj^- a nuicli dissected coast, like the west and nortli-wcst coast of 

 Norway, tlie conditions are, liowever, entirely flifferent. The length of 

 tlie shore-line has been enormously increased, the islands and peninsulas 

 will be attacked by the shore erosion from all sides, and its effect will be 

 increased accordingly. 



Moreover, along this rlissectcd coast the greater part of the denudation 

 towards sea-level has already been accomplished beforehand by the sub- 

 aerial denudation and the glacial erosion, which have worn away enormous 

 (|uaiitities of rock, and there is comparative!}- little work left for the shore 

 erosion, in order to plane off the small and low islands and peninsulas 

 more or less to sea-level, and thus form the strandfiat; especially as during 

 the cold periods, when this plane v\'as in my opinion mainly given its pre- 

 sent flat surface, the atmospheric weathering and the local glacial erosion 

 by frost denuded the surface of the dissected coast land vigorously. 



On the greater and higher islands, or wdiere the rocks were more 

 resistant, it would take longer time for the shore erosion, assisted by the 

 atmospheric weathering and the local glacial erosion by frost, to denude 

 the land to sea-level. In such places mountains or smaller knolls and ridges 

 may still be left, surmounting the level of the strandfiat, often as isolated 

 stacks or 'monadnocks'. 



The result of the whole process, gradually developing the planes of 

 the strandfiat by the erosion of the shores of the islands, will be that a 

 quite common shape of many islands and even of small skerries, is more 

 or less similar to that of a hat swimming on the sea with the brim near 

 sea-level and a rounded crown forming the central part. 



When was the Norwegian Strandflat developed. 



The conclusions arrived at on the preceding pages regarding the mode 

 of formation of the strandflat, make it probable that the Norwegian strand- 

 flat has been developed to its present form chiefly before and during the 

 quaternary glacial periods. 



We do not know what the climatic conditions may have been along 

 the coast of Norway in late tertiary time, and whether they may have been 

 favourable for an active shore erosion by frost, so essential for the 

 formation of a strandflat. This is, however, hardlv probable, as the 

 climate may have been too mild. 



Towards the beginning of the first quaternary ice age, the temperature 

 sank, and a more effective shore erosion began when frosts became more 

 frequent. As time went on the climatic conditions grew more favourable 



