172 AMUND HELLAND ON THE FJORDS, LAKES, 



raiiies and terraces in front of their lower ends. These, in South- 

 eastern Norway, lie in four parallel rows, following the limits of the 

 ice-masses indicated by the moraines. 



Many lakes occur in Norway without moraines at the lower end. 

 The theory, however, does not require that all lakes should have 

 moraines in front of them ; for the motion of ice-masses over an 

 undulating surface formed lakes in every place where their power 

 was for some reason or other increased. The above-mentioned 

 instances are those where the phenomena are clearest. 



The Fjords, Fjord-valleys, Lakes, and Sea-banks of Greenland 

 and Norway. — It is well known that certain districts in northern 

 and southern latitudes abound in fjords and lakes ; and, further, 

 that this abundance is not absolutely dependent on these districts 

 being situated in high latitudes, but that fjords and lakes occur in 

 all countries once covered by glaciers. 



Thus there are many lakes in Switzerland, though it is south of 

 the general zone of lakes and fjords in Europe. This intimate 

 connexion between fjords, lakes, and the old glaciation, first ex- 

 plained by Professor Dana and Professor Ramsay, led me to a closer 

 examination of the fjords and lakes in Norway and Greenland, 

 some of the results of which are given above. The fjords are usually 

 regarded as valleys, or as parts of valleys, filled by the sea ; so that 

 if the land rose, the fjord would be converted into a valley. 



This view is not quite correct. All strongly marked fjords are 

 not only valleys filled by the sea, but also lake-basins. This could 

 be demonstrated by many instances from Norway ; but I will here 

 confine myself to one. The Hardanger Fjord, in the inner part, 

 gives soundings up to 800 metres ; the depth of the sea at its mouth 

 does not exceed 350 metres. Hence, if the land rose this much, the 

 fjord would become a lake 450 metres deep. If Norway and the 

 bottom of the German Ocean were elevated together, its fjords on 

 the whole would become long and deep lakes. That the same 

 would happen with the Greenland fjords is shown further on. 

 Thus the fjords and the lakes are formed in the same way. 



We will endeavour to follow the theory of the glacial formation 

 of fjords and lakes to its consequences, constantly using the ob- 

 servations to verify the deductions. If, during a certain geological 

 period, large portions of the land were covered with glaciers, and the 

 fjords were formed by these, and could only be formed by these, 

 then fjords must be confined to such portions of the land as were 

 once covered by glaciers. Professor Dana has shown that this is the 

 case ; and Professor Ramsay has further shown that there is an 

 intimate connexion between the occurrence of lakes and old glacia- 

 tion. The fjords, if formed by glaciers, must not be confined to 

 certain rocks, but must traverse all deposits older than the Glacial 

 epoch. Even a rapid journey along a fjord, for example the Sogne 

 and its branches, or a glance at the geological maps of countries with 

 fjords will prove that fjords and lakes are, on the whole, independent 

 of the rocks in which they occur. The inner branches of the Sogne 

 Fjord, as the Lyster Fjord, are surrounded by clay-slates and 



