50 FRIDTJOF NANSEN. M.-N. Kl. 



for instance, only slif^lit indications of siicli a formation alonj^ its southern 

 and soiitli-castern coast, altlion^ii the land is iIhtc very much lower, 

 sloping"" gently towards the coast, and there w(juld c(jnse(|uently have been 

 much less rock to denude in order to form a strandfiat. 



As far as I can see, (jne main reason ma}' have been that during the 

 cold interglacial periods, when the strandfiat was to a great extent de- 

 veloped, the climatic conditions were much less favourable for the shore 

 erosion I)y frost along the south and south-east coast of Norway than they 

 were further north, and therefore the strandfiat couid not be developed to 

 any considerable extent in those southern regions. It is the saine reason 

 why in postglacial time, shore-ledges, cut in solid rock by shore erosion 

 bv frost, have been so well developed in northern Norway wjiilc they have 

 not been formed along its southern coasts. 



In the inner part of Christiania I'jord, where there was more of an 

 inland climate w ith colder winters, a strandfiat has been developed, as will 

 be described later. 



During the glacial periods the climatic conditions may have been 

 favourable for the shore erosion also in southern Norw^ay, but then the 

 south and south-east coast was relatively soon submerged, while the outer 

 west coast was only slightly submerged, if at all. As Andr. M. Hansen 

 [1895] has already pointed out, the south and south-east coast was also 

 soon covered by ice, and during most part of the glacial* periods there was 

 no border of bare land similar to that existing outside the fjords of the 

 west coast. 



There is still the possibility that the big glacier that filled the sub- 

 merged Norwegian Channel round along the coast, and excavated it to 

 depths of 500 and even 700 metres below present sea-level, may also have 

 eroded the outer part of the coast, and may more or less have cut away 

 parts of any strandfiat that had been developed, provided that there have 

 been several ice ages, when the Norwegian Channel was filled by a big 

 glacier. 



It is, however, much more difficult to account for the absence of a 

 strandfiat, near present sea-level, along the coast of Finmarken. In this 

 region the strandfiat suddenly ends, just with the extension of the igneous 

 and possibly Archæan rocks outside Ringvadsøi, Rebbenesøi, Grotøi, and 

 northern Kvaløi. These islands consist of igneous and so-called Archæan 

 rocks, extending north-eastwards along the coast from \^esterålen and 

 Senjen. Outside these islands as far as north of Kvaloi, there is a 

 submerged strandfiat w^ith a great many skerries, sunken rocks, and 

 shoals. But north-east of Kvaloi this strandfiat suddenly ends. Vannoi, east 

 of Kvaloi consists partly of sedimentary rocks (schists) and partly of 

 'Archæan' rocks. Fugloi, east of \'annoi consists entirely of schists. North 

 of these two islands there are some scattered submarine platforms with 

 sunken rocks and shoals (in 70° 36' N. Lat.), which may be considered as 



I 



