66 



FRIDTJOF NAN.SKN. 



M.-N. Kl. 



Fie;. 30. Rutletangcne. A. Seen from the west (Sketch Aug. 12, !■ 



Fig. 40. The islands on the southern side of" the Sogne Sea or entrance to Sogne Fjord. View t 



The Genetic Origin of the Strandflat in Sogne Fjord. 



Along the Norwegian west coast, north and south of the mouth of 

 Sogne Fjord, numerous formations of tlie strandflat were observed, per- 

 fectly similar to those which have been described above along the shores 

 of the fjord. All these formations must obviously have had the same 

 genetic origin, and before proceeding further in our description, let us 

 examine what this origin might have been. 



Dr. Hans Reusch has described similar low rocky benches in front 

 of the mountain slopes along the shores of Hardanger Fjord, especially 

 m its inner part [1901, p. 189]; but strange to say he has not observed 

 similar features in Sogne Fjord. He states that the height of these 

 benches is often about 20 to 30 metres. I have not investigated these 

 formations in the inner part of Hardanger Fjord, but in the outer part 

 of the fjord I found their height to be about 19 metres above sea-level 

 and even more (see later). They seem accordingly to be perhaps slightly 

 higher there than in Sogne Fjord, although I have also observed a lower 

 level there only some few metres above the sea. 



Reusch thinks that these rocky benches are remnants of the floor of 

 the initial "Hardanger valley system" in which the deeper channel of the 



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