132 ORIGIN OF SCENERY OF BRITAIN 



the edge of an ocean. America affords the most 

 marked proofs of this tendency, but in the structure 

 of Scandinavia and its prolongation into Scotland and 

 Ireland there appear to be traces of similar ancient 

 ridging up of the oceanic border of Europe. 



There is a remarkable convergence of geological 

 formations in Britain, each carrying with it its charac- 

 teristic scenery. The rugged crystalline rocks of 

 Norway reappear in the Scottish Highlands ; the 

 fertile chalk, with its smooth downs and gentle escarp- 

 ment, stretches across to us from the north of France ; 

 the great plain of North Germany, strewn with the 

 debris of the northern hills, extends into our eastern 

 lowlands; even the volcanic plateaux of Iceland and 

 Faroe are prolonged into the Inner Hebrides and the 

 north of Ireland. 



The present surface of Britain is the result of a 

 long, complicated process in which underground move- 

 ments, though sometimes potent, have only operated 

 occasionally, while superficial erosion has been continu- 

 ous, so long as any land has remained above the sea. 

 The order of appearance of the existing features is not 

 necessarily that of the chronological sequence of the 

 rocks. The oldest formations have all been buried 

 under later accumulations, and their re-emergence at 

 the surface has only been brought about after enormous 

 denudation. In its general growth, Britain like the rest 

 of Europe has, on the whole, increased from the north 

 by successive additions along its southern border. 

 Some early upheavals ridged up the Palaeozoic rocks 

 into folds running north-north-east and south-south- 

 west, as may yet -be seen in Scotland, in the Lake 



