POSTGLACIAL, &c, DEPOSITS OP CONTINENT. 473 



500 feet — there or thereabout. The temperature of the sea had 

 been raised considerably above that of the cold waters in which 

 the arctic fauna of the preceding Glacial Period had flourished, 

 but, if we may judge from the continued presence, especially in 

 the highest postglacial deposits, of certain northern forms, which 

 have since vanished from the south of Norway and Sweden, the 

 North Sea was still somewhat colder than at present. But as 

 the land continued to rise, the temperature of the sea increased, 

 and the fauna ere long entirely lost its arctic character. In short, 

 the Postglacial Period merged into the Present. 



Submarine peat occurs at many places along the low-lying 

 and shelving shores of Scania. The peat is composed of numer- 

 ous moorland- and marsh-loving plants of species which are 

 still indigenous to the country, and it encloses roots, stems, 

 branches, and leaves of various trees, such as oak, fir, birch, 

 alder, and others, but never beech. There can be no doubt that 

 this accumulation indicates an old land-surface, and since it 

 passes out to sea it proves of course a recent submergence. Now 

 and again the peat is overlaid along the margin of the sea by 

 heavy masses of gravel and shingle which represent old beaches. 

 Some of these gravel-banks rise 10 and 15 feet above the present 

 sea-level, and are underlaid by deposits of postglacial silt and 

 clay, containing marine shells of species that still live in the 

 neighbouring waters. One of the most interesting raised - 

 beaches is the great bank called Jaravallen (or Garavallen), 

 which stretches as a more or less continuous ridge along the 

 coast of the Baltic from Ystad to the part between Trelleborg 

 and Falsterbo. Professor Nilsson tells us that underneath it in 

 various places, there occur peat-bogs which lie below the surface 

 of the sea. One of these bogs attains a thickness of 10 feet, 2 

 feet 5 inches of which lie above, and 7 feet 7 inches below the 

 surface of the sea. " The turf under this stone wall is so com- 

 pressed that when dry it is almost as hard as brown coal ; the 

 trees are also, like the layers of coal, pressed together, and when 

 a fir-chip is broken it is found to be black and shining in the 

 cross section, all the results of great pressure and of age. The 



