Prof. E. Hull — The Norwegian Fjords. 13 



The Post- Glacial Subsidence. — The phenomena above described 

 occurred during a period of high elevation, and was succeeded by 

 one of corresponding depression, accompanied by a return of milder 

 conditions of temperature and gradual disappearance of the ice from 

 the, fjords and lower regions of Scandinavia. In my view it was these 

 changes of level which were the direct cause of the Glacial Epoch. ^ 



The evidences of depression of the land are apparent in many 

 places throughout Norway in the presence of old sea-beaches, con- 

 taining marine shells of existing species, at levels of several hundred 

 feet above the sea-waters. According to K-eusch and Hansen, these 

 terraces occur at levels of about 200 metres (615 feet) in the 

 Christiania and Trondhjem districts, in front of the lakes of the east 

 country forming large plains ; but are generally at lower levels, 

 sloping distinctly from higher positions in the interior of the fjords 

 to lower levels towards the outer coast. '^ The terraces are composed 

 of reconstructed glacial matter consisting of sand, gravel, and boulders, 

 and the marine shells found in the glacial clays show a transition 

 from the cold Arctic, to that of a milder, climate of the present day. 

 Considering that the waters of the sea must have penetrated much 

 further inland than at the present day, and that the conditions of the 

 glacial stage were only passing away, we may suppose that the glaciers 

 in many places actually entered the fjords, and gave rise to icebergs, 

 which floated into the ocean waters, and on melting scattered their 

 contents of mud and stones over the ocean bed. In this way we may 

 account for the spread of glacial detritus over the floor of the North 

 Sea, filling up the submerged channels of the rivers; and owing to 

 this it is that the river valleys are seldom traceable by means of the 

 soundings at the present day on the Admiralty charts. 



Epoch of Re-elevation. — We now come to the consideration of the 

 final stage upon Avhich the peninsula entered in order to give rise to 

 the relations of land and water now represented with admirable 

 correctness on our charts. E.e-elevation of the land was necessary 

 for this result, but to a far less extent than that we have previously 

 had to deal with. It was a case of a few hundred feet against several 

 thousand, resulting in adding large areas of land along the margin 

 and islands bordering the continent. Sweden must have gained 

 enormously by this elevatory process, and many islands arose where 

 the waters previously prevailed. 



It is not my intention to discuss the question how these movements 

 of the crust were brought about ; this is a geological problem which 

 physicists will solve in various ways. All I have to say is that it 

 was not due to volcanic action, but is to be explained in accordance 



•^ This is the view which I have endeavoured to develop in my monograph 

 above alluded to, and I hope successfully. Judging by the results obtained by 

 the soundings, the submerged river-channels descended to over 1,000 fathoms 

 (6,000 feet), which gives the amount of the uplift of the land above the present 

 level of the ocean. But for full evidence of this conclusion the reader is referred' 

 to the monograph itself. 



'•^ According to Professor James Geikie, quoting from Erdman, the terraces 

 are found at levels up to 800 feet or more above the surface of the sea. 

 {Great Ice Age, p. 388.) 



