The Physical History of the Norwegian Fjords 
because of the obstruction to the outflow of the ice caused by the 
floors of the valleys ; and secondly, 
f rock which runs along the coast throughout the greater 
chain of islands rising from the shallow floor o 
extent of its length. That these islands are only unsubmerged portions of an extensive tract of 
continental land is clear to any one who has sailed along their shores, and they have been regarded by 
Dr. Nansen as a second and minor terrace, called by him “the Coast Platform,” of more recent 
formation than the Continental Platform already described. 
In the former condition of high elevation and ice accumulation the obstacle presented by these 
uprising ridges and bosses of solid rock to the movement of the glacier ice descending from the interior 
mountains would naturally result in the piling up of huge masses of moraine matter in the hollows 
between the islands—filling the valleys, and lessening their depth. Thus, the combined result of these 
two conditions, namely, the erosion of the glacier and the accumulation of moraine matter, may be taken 
to explain the deepening of the fjords at the centre of their channels as indicated by the soundings on the 
Admiralty Charts, and the shallowing of their outlet into the ocean. These outlets are themselves largely 
silted up outside the barrier. 
We may now conclude this part of our subject, which will be recognised as having a close connec- 
tion with that which precedes it, by a statement of the geological events through which the Scandinavian 
peninsula has passed from the earliest to the latest periods :-— 
GENERAL Succession or Events in THE HisTory or THE Norwecian Fyorps 
(a) Earliest Stage (Pre-Silurian).—Continental conditions; land formed of Archaean rocks. Erosion of 
river-valleys commences. 
(b) Second Stage.—Partial submergence during Silurian times. 
(c) Third Stage-—Elevation of land during later Palaeozoic, Mesozoic, and Tertiary times ; continuous 
erosion of river-valleys. 
(d) Fourth Stage (Glacial period).—Great upheaval of land and sea areas accompanied by valley erosion. 
Refrigeration of climate ; extension of snowfields and glaciers, which descended and filled the 
valleys and moved out over the North Sea floor ; deepening of the valleys by glacier erosion. 
(e) Fifth Stage (Interglacial).—General subsidence of land and sea; amelioration of climate ; marine 
terraces (or “Strandlinien”) formed along the coast of the submerged lands and fjords, the sea 
filled with floating ice and bergs. 
(f) Sixth Stage (Post-Glacial).—Slight re-elevation of area, accompanied by. recurrence of cold conditions, 
but not to the extent of the fourth stage. 
(g) Seventh Stage (Recent).—Gradual depression of lind and amelioration of climate to present conditions ; 
sea-beaches formed at intervals of subsequent emergence along the coast down to the commence- 
ment of human occupation of the country.? 
1 See Plate VIII., Map of the British Isles during the Glacial Period. 
2 The above subject and its connection with the physical features of the West of Scotland is more fully dealt with in the author’s paper 
published in the Transactions of the Victoria Institute, yol. xxiv. p. 125 (1902). 
