302 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE. 
The Iron Ore Supply of the Scandinavian Peninsula. 
By Hy. SJ6GREN. 
[Ordered by the General Committee to be printed in ewtenso.] 
THE iron ore deposits of the Scandinavian countries are not uniformly 
distributed all over the peninsula, but confined to certain ore-bearing 
areas, or ‘ore provinces.’ As an ‘ore province’ I designate an area 
characterised by a certain geological structure genetically connected with 
the ore-bearing rocks of the area. 
An ‘ore province’ may geologically be built up by igneous rocks, or 
by sedimentary deposits, or by crystalline schists, or by two or three of 
these kinds of rocks together. The Scandinavian Peninsula furnishes us 
with examples of ore provinces of very different geological types. Con- 
sidering only the Scandinavian ore provinces carrying iron ores, we may 
distinguish six such provinces. 
The geologically best known is the ‘ore province of Central Sweden,’ 
the ‘Jarnbaraland’ (iron-bearing land) of the ancient history of Sweden. 
It is characterised by a rather complicated geological structure, composed 
of crystalline schists and of acid and basic igneous rocks, all belonging to 
the Archean age. 
The same geological features are exhibited in the ‘ore province of the 
south coast of Norway,’ which may be considered as a westerly extension 
of the ore province of Central Sweden. Also the comparatively confined 
‘ore province of Syd-Varanger,’ in the most north-easterly part of 
Norway, shows the same geological conditions. 
The ‘ore province of Norrbotten ’ is also composed of rocks of Archean 
age, but the chemical and petrographical composition of the rocks is partly 
different, syenite and syenitic porphyries playing a prominent part in the 
composition of the ore-bearing ground. 
Lhe ‘ore province of Northern Norway,’ comprising the coast belt 
between the latitudes of 65° 50’ and 69° 10’ and the valleys penetrating 
into the country from the sea, is composed of metamorphosed schists of 
Cambro-Silurian age. The ore deposits are associated with beds of lime- 
stone. Through the erosion proceeding from the Atlantic, the ore-bearing 
horizons have in a number of places been laid bare. The igneous rocks 
occurring within this area seem not in any way to be connected with the 
ore deposits, 
Lastly we have to mention the ‘ore province of Christiania,’ with a 
great number of mostly small ore deposits connected with the eruptive 
post-Silurian rocks of the Christiania basin. 
Considering the importance of the different ore provinces in respect to 
the quantities of ore obtainable in each of them, the ore province of Norr- 
botten takes the first place, containing several great deposits, of which 
one (hulrunnavaara) must be counted among the greatest in the world. 
Next comes the ore province of Northern Norway, with immense quan- 
tities of lean iron ores. The ore province of Central Sweden during many 
centuries played a réle as the chief producer of Swedish iron, and the 
same may be said of the ore province of the south coast of Norway 
in respect to Norway. The ore province of Syd-Varanger will in the 
near future become a very important ore-producer. The ore province 
