THE 



GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. 



NEW SERIES. DECADE II. VOL. II. 



No. IX.— SEPTEMBER, 1875. 



OIEeiGrZHIKr-A.IG ARTICLES. 



I. — Short Sketch of the Geology of the North of Norway. 

 By Karl Pettersen. 



LEOPOLD VON BUCH, who in the beginning of this century 

 travelled through Norway as far as the North Cape, was the 

 first who wrote about the geology of the northern part of the 

 country (Eeise durch Norwegen und Lapland, Berlin, 1810). Some 

 years later the natural conditions of the country were examined by 

 Vargas Beclemar. On this voyage he went as far as Varanger, and 

 has recorded the result of his inquiries in his work "Beise nach dem 

 hoben Norden, Frankfurth-a.-Main, 1819." Furthermore B. Everest, 

 who travelled through Norway to the North Cape in the years 

 between 1825 and 1830, has collected various notices on the moun- 

 tain structure of the countries in his work entitled "Journey 

 through Norway." 



If we consider the vast tract which these men of science had to 

 go over, and the short time they had at their disposal for this pur- 

 pose, it will be evident that we cannot expect to find in their works 

 complete surveys, but only more or less scattered remarks on the 

 geological structure of the country. 



In the years 1827 and 1828 Keilhau had occasion to make more 

 comprehensive investigations in the northern parts of the country, 

 and he succeeded also in giving the first hints for a separation of the 

 principal groups which form the mountainous ground of these 

 regions. 



' Of course Keilhau never intended to give anything more than 

 preliminary hints. If one takes into consideration that 



the area of Finmark is 790 geographical square miles = 43,480 square kilom. 



„ Tromso "Amt" 412 „ „ = 22,710 „ 



„ Nordlands"Amt" 687 ,, „ = 37,820 „ 



together 1889 „ „ =104,010 „ 



it will be clear that a man, in the course of the summer months of a 

 couple of years, will only be able to go over so vast an extent of 

 country superficially. Moreover, the land is thinly populated ; the 

 actual inland area is for the greater part barren ; and the " Amts" of 

 Tromso and Nordland especially form an extremely wild mountain 

 land, frequently intersected by deep fjords, valleys and gorges. 

 Scientific journeys are therefore in these parts always connected 

 with great difficulties. . - 



DECADE II. — TOL. II. NO. IX. 25 



