J 26 FKIOTJOK NANSEN. M.-X. Kl. 



(Iccp s<-un'!s l)ci w ecu iliciii. Il \\(,ulil seem abMir*! {' > think that the saino 

 asi'ency cdiiM lia\r ha<l sucli culircly oijposite effects in the same rej^'^ion, 

 where in(,re(,\-er there wouM he no apparent differences in the geological 

 structure tu aecoiuit for it. The fact i^ (ih\ iously that the geological erosion 

 has general!}' and e\ery\\ liere a ijronoin.ccij tt-ndency to dissect the land 

 surface and not to plane it. 



It nii,L;hl he asked why the strandfiat of Smolcn is somewhat lower 

 and much more e\en than that of Hilteren anrl als(j to some extent than 

 that of I'roia. ddie ri'ason ma\- chiefh- lie differences in the geological 

 structin-e, the r(;cks of Smolen haxini;- been more easilx' and more evenly 

 eroded. The situation of the islands ma\- also have been of som2 itn* 

 portance. Altliout^ii in m\ oi)inion, the slK.Te eio>ion hv frost has been 

 the most vigorous factor for the marine denudation, tlie work of the 

 waves (the surf) has also been very important esi)ecially for the transport 

 of the waste, and it is obvious that Smolen and to some extent Fpoia has 

 alwa\s been exposed to a more effective wave action tlian the more pvo- 

 tected Hitteren, as in this region the j)revailing winds were probably 

 alwaws southwesterly, as long as the Norwegian Sea was not ice-covered. 



1 liave pointefl out before that the wave a.cüon on a coast exposed 

 to the full hn\ of the open sea, may also have a tendency to wear down 

 the strandfiat cut by the shore erosion by frost to a level somewhat lower 

 than the initial one. I do not believe, however, that this would be a 

 feasible explanation of the comparatively low flat level of Smolen. be- 

 cause in that case its plane would naturally be expected to slope somewhat 

 seawards, and coulrl not be so almost perfectly horizontal as it actually is, 

 differing only some few metres in height from north to soutli. 



It is, however, a question whether there are not two levels of the 

 emerged strandfiat in this region as in other regions of the Norwegian 

 coast. In that case we mav expect the plane of Smolen to belong to the 

 lower le\el, it ha\ing almost exactly- the same height as the lower level 

 of the stranrlflat at the mouth of Sogne Fjord. 



From Trondhjem Fjord to Vikten. 



Along the coast between Trondhjem Fjord and Folia Fjord there is 

 a distinctlv developed strandfiat in front of the steeply ascending moun- 

 tains, and there are many submerged platforms with swartns of islets 

 anfl skerries outsirle tlie coast. The width of the strandfiat from the foot 

 of the mountains to the edge of the submerged platforms, at less than 

 20 metres below sea-level, is not very considerable in this region, and 

 decreases northwards from about 17 kilometres in the region of Melstein 

 and Lovoi (63° 56' N. Lat.) to a few kilometres in Folia Fjord. 



The coast of this region is built up of pressed igneous rocks generally 

 considered to be of the Archæan age, but which Schetelig [1913I holds 

 to be vounirer. 



