52 Prof. A. G. Eogbom — Life of Prof . A. E. Tornehohm. 



highland geology in Sweden; the stages passed through were much 

 the same as in the interpretation of the North-West Highlands of 

 Scotland. It need only be recalled that Tcirnebohm's first conception 

 of the Seve and Koli Groups as younger than the Silurian could no 

 longer be maintained, since Silurian fossils were discovered in the 

 Koli Schists. In a paper entitled "Om fjellproblemet " (" The Problem 

 of the Higlilands "), published 1888, Tornebolim first advanced his 

 hypothesis of a great overthrust : the Pre-Carabrian Seve Group, with 

 the superimposed Koli Schists, he now interpreted as having been 

 thrust eastwards some tens of miles, and in this wise superimposed 

 upon the fossiliferous Cambrian and Silurian areas in the east. The 

 Koli Schists, which have their richest development on the Norwegian 

 side, he regarded as an anomalous facies of the Canibi'ian and Silurian, 

 differing from tlie more normal development of these systems, not only 

 througli their more or less pronounced metamorphism, but also through 

 their admixture with abundant igneous rocks. Relying upon several 

 discoveries of fossils and on the tectonics, Tornebohm divided up the 

 Koli Schists into a series of subdivisions which may here be passed 

 over. The final result of his extensive researches he published (1896) 

 in the memoir Grunddragen af det centrala SJcandinctviens geologi {2'he 

 Outlines of the Geology of Central Scandinavia). The memoir is 

 accompanied by a map, on the scale 1 : 800,000, comprising an area 

 of not less than o6,0()0 square miles. 



By travelling in parts of the Scandinavian chain other than those 

 dealt with in the two publications cited above, Tornebohm moreover 

 got a general view of its geology, and was thereby enahled to apply 

 his thi'ust-theory to the mountain range in its whole extent. Tliis he 

 has done on the maps in his textbooks of geology and on his great 

 wall-map of North Europe. 



Several geologists in Sweden, as well as in Norway, are still 

 unconvinced in regard to the great thrusts ; none of them, however, 

 has been able to produce a map which can satisfy in any other way 

 the tectonic relations. Admittedly the last word has not yet been 

 said about the mountain tectonics of Scandinavia, but there is every 

 probability that the great lines have been rightly traced by Tornebohm, 

 and that the further development of our knowledge must proceed 

 from the basis laid down by him. The next objects for research will 

 probably be the inner composition and structure of the great thrust- 

 masses, the minor thrusts occurring in them, and the role played by 

 the intermixed igneous rocks, furthermore, the stratigraphj' of the 

 great sparagmite complexes needs thorough revision. 



Tornebohm's field of research, mountain tectonics and the Archaean, 

 offered a wide scope for subjective views. With the divining rod of his 

 intuitive faculty he often has found the right interpretation where 

 a more wary geologist, considering the lack of information, would 

 have refrained from a definite opinion. His j)recision of aim was 

 admirable, but he was not safe from great errors. In scientific 

 discussion he was hardly open to conviction. Facts that did not 

 harmonize with his views impressed him hut little before he could 

 verify them for himself in the field. In debate he was, therefore, 

 often a fierce adversary, who made his opponents feel the whole 



