Oscillations of Land in Scandinacia. 207 



that crosses the southern Baltic, and in the east that which passes 

 by the southern end ot Lake Ladoga, both mark zero, as one proceeds 

 from south to north or from east to west tlie curves mark higher 

 and higher numbers, until the greatest depression known, so far as 

 established by ti'acing the highest Glacial marine coastline, attains 

 in northern Sweden no less than 280 metres.^ Lately, indeed, it 

 has been said that in Norrland the Glacial marine coastline is at 

 a lower level in the interior than near the present coast. But if 

 that is the case, we may recall the fact that the highest Glacial 

 coastline was formed at different times in different places. It is 

 therefore quite possible that the apparently abnormal conditions in 

 Norrland spring from nothing else than the formation of the Glacial 

 coastline, first at the coast and afterwards at the interior, for the 

 simple reason that " the ice did not melt from the interior of 

 Norrland until the elevation had been in progress for some time." - 

 The conditions in Norrland are therefore in no way opposed to 

 the rule that increased depression and increased ice-load point in 

 the same direction. 



Scandinavia under its load of land-ice may be compared to 

 a depressed spring. When the load is removed the land tends to 

 resume its original position. This explains the great rapidity with 

 which the land rose at the close of the Ice Age, a rapidity for which 

 in my above-quoted paper of 1895 I gave conclusive evidence, 

 although I then did not fully understand what caused the rapid rise 

 of the land. But although this demands a certain elasticity in the 

 crust of the earth, yet it cannot be supposed that this elasticity was 

 so great as to permit the land, pressed down as it was during a large 

 part of the Ice Age, to regain the state of equilibrium in which it was 

 at the beginning of the Ice Age ; some of the upward tension must 

 in the meantime have been neutralized. The highest Glacial marine 

 coastline therefore marks only the final result of the depression at 

 the moment when the ice melted. Now the position of this line 

 no less than 280 metres above sea-level is alone enough to show 

 that the depression was considerable. But for the reason just 

 mentioned this height indicates only a part of the Glacial depression. 

 This line of argument has already led us to the conclusion that at 

 the beginning of the Ice Age Scandinavia lay mucli higher than now. 

 But that this elevation was in itself enough to aftbrd a simple and 

 natural explanation of the Glacial Period will be proved in the sequel 

 by more conclusive evidence. 



From what has been said it is clear that the Glacial and Post- 

 Glacial changes of level in Scandinavia (and the same applies to 

 North America) are due to a special cause, and therefore cannot be 

 compared with volcanic or continent- building oscillations. All 

 attempts to generalize from such comparisons are foredoomed to 

 failure. 



' A. G. Hogbom, " Till fr§,g,in oin deu scnglaciala hafsgriinseii i Xorrlaud" : Geol. 

 Foren. Stockholm FiJrhaiull., 1899, x\i, p. o95. 



■ A. G. Hogbom, " Om hogsta mariua gransen i norra Sverige" : Geol. Foren. 

 Stockholm ForhandJ., 1896, x'viii, p. 188. 



