390 AnDH. LlNDACKH 



As rt'^Mids Ihc development of Form a I ions, al llu' oulsol, ^vnle^ 

 is the niosl iini)()ilanl factor: how imicli or how lilllc and under 

 what circumstances il is conveyed to the ground is the momentous 

 point here, far more than the nature of the soil. From an orogra- 

 phical point of view, great uniformity prevails. As regards the solid 

 elements, the maritime country consists of "moutonnées" primitive 

 rocks of a height of as much as about 400 metres; further into the 

 country, around Morkefjord and Puslervig, a table-land occurs; its 

 greatest height, 812 metres, is reached in Stjernefjeldene. Fuglenæbs- 

 fjeld, which I visited in August 1906 is of about the same height. 

 The surface which slopes gently towards the north consists of loose 

 boulders with intervening large, flat patches of gravel, the vegetation 

 of which is sparingly-occurring tufts of Saxifraga oppositifolia. 



Loose material, consisting of clay and gravel, is present to a 

 great extent as moraine-formations around Stormelven and the inner 

 part of Dove Bay. The depth of these layers is of no consequence, 

 as the frost binds the ground into a frozen mass at a short distance 

 from the surface. The extent of this distance is of course dependent 

 upon the degree of moisture which is conveyed to the soil. It is 

 true that, in the case of gravel-mounds which occurred scattered 

 like those near Stormelven and the Bastions near Lakseelv, the mass 

 of earth thaws rather far down, but then the surface is so dry that 

 there is nothing to foster the growth of plants; consequently, it is 

 barren there. As a rule the soil is not utilized to a greater depth 

 than about 6 cm. 



Plants are offered somewhat better conditions in places where 

 the more recent layer is found deposited in depressions either 

 entirely or partly surrounded by the primitive rocks, but wùth such 

 possibilities of outlet that the water is not higher than some parts 

 of it and the ground may protrude and allow the formation of 

 tufts. In such places I always found Carex pulla, Arctagrostis lati- 

 folia and occasionally Juncus trigliimus. 



If the loose deposits are absent from the bottom of such a 

 depression it is converted into a water-filled basin with a stony 

 bottom devoid of vegetation. Where this kind of small pond be- 

 comes dry, the bottom is found to be black with Gloeocapsa and 

 Phormidium auiumnale. 



Where the gravel and clay layers are found deposited in de- 

 pressions between higher masses of rocks, so that there is enough 

 moisture throughout the summer, Carear-bogs are developed as, e.g. 

 in Vesterdalen between Harefjeldet and Varderyggen and in the 

 vallev east of the latter. 



