GREENLAND BY THE POLAR SEA 



chain which continues through Scotland. This mountain chain, which is called 

 the Caledonian Folding, has up to the present been known only east of the 

 Atlantic Ocean, from Scotland to Spitzbergen. The most important geological 

 discovery of the Expedition is that it succeeded in pointing out the Greenlandic 

 section of the Caledonian Folding to the west of the Atlantic Ocean. 



As already mentioned, the North Greenlandic series of strata ended in 

 coarse sandstone, which during the Devonian Period was then folded up into 

 the mountain chain. What subsequently happened is not known with certainty. 

 Great stretches of North Greenland, and first and foremost the mountain 

 chain, have during part of the Mesozoic Period been raised above the sea-level, 

 and during this period the mountain chain became constantly lower ; but no 

 fossiliferous strata have been preserved, so one must fall back on hypotheses 

 regarding the conditions. During the Tertiary Period there must certainly 

 have been land with semitropical forests here, for remains of such are to be 

 found on Grant Land, which lies right opposite. 



Then the Ice Period came. It spread its ice masses across practically the 

 whole of North Greenland. At any rate it brought blocks containing Silurian 

 fossils up to some of the highest summits of the mountain chain. The inland- 

 ice has now, especially to the west, receded about 100 kilometres, and although 

 this stretch of time since the Ice Period is so short, in comparison to the 

 periods already mentioned, many changes have nevertheless taken place in the 

 North Greenlandic landscape since the Ice Period. During a certain period 

 North Greenland was lying at least 210 metres lower than now, and large 

 sections of the plains which now consist of the coarse sandstone were then 

 lying under the surface of the ocean. At that time there were many more 

 fjords and sounds on the north coast. We may state with certainty that 

 subsequently the climate was not colder than it is now, as the glaciers have 

 not shot out across the old sea margins which one comes across more than 

 200 metres inland. Right up to a height of 135 metres one finds shells of 

 mussels from that time, all of them forms which at present exist in the same 

 neighbourhood. 



II 



This description of the development of the North Greenlandic landscape 

 would be incomplete if one did not finally mention the youngest and one of 

 the most powerful of the series of strata — i.e., the inland-ice. 



It is well known that almost the whole of North and Middle Europe during 

 the Ice Period was covered by a connected mass of ice, which, like a shield, 

 arched its back from Scandinavia out across the surrounding countries. This 

 was also the case with the whole of Canada and the northern part of the 

 United States. In Greenland the ice has remained, one is yet in the midst of 

 the Ice Period, and a journey from the south of Greenland towards the north 

 is like experiencing anew the coming of the Ice Period. 



If the journey is commenced at Godthaab or Holstenborg there is still 

 100 kilometres from the coast to the inland-ice, and even from the highest 

 coastal mountains one cannot as a rule see it. Wild, riven mountains form 

 the landscape, and occasionally the sun is reflected in the shiny surface of a 

 glacier, or shines on the snowdrift, which is so big that it does not melt in 

 the short summer. 



Such a snowdrift may be the beginning of an Ice Period. If a succession 

 of years come with much precipitation or cold summers the snowdrift will grow 



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