279 



as a rule, could not get very far away from the place of their 

 origin, but was later covered towards the shore by more recent, 

 finer-grained sediment, which may perhaps derive to a large 

 extent from coast-ice of a more or less local origin. 



In these complicated questions a clear result can only be- 

 gained by studying a much more comprehensive material than 

 that brought home by the last expedition, but every definitive 

 elucidation must pay regard to the two factors I have just 

 mentioned, viz. the coast ice, and the ice-bergs ; and as for 

 the latter, to their utterly dissimilar natures in different periods. 

 It cannot have been so very long ago, after all, when for instance 

 the Nordvestljord of Scoresby Sund was filled with an arm of 

 inland ice, and while nowadays only a small number of ice-bergs 

 pass its sill, there is no doubt that during a by-gone period this 

 glacier sent out numerous ice-bergs which in the open sea 

 unloaded masses of moraine material which derived exclusively 

 from primary rocks. 



Summary. 



The parts of East Greenland that were visited by the Ex- 

 pedition of 1900 are of unique interest by reason of the variations 

 in the formations that present themselves, and because of the 

 excellent opportunities they offer for the study of the effects 

 of the forces that give the polar scenery its characteristic 

 features. 



The main part of Greenland — whether we regard it as 

 a continuation of the American continent, or |as a territory that 

 is to a certain extent independent — obviously consists of a 

 very old mass, which since the earliest times has bounded 

 the Atlantic depression. It is therefore probable that it is 

 chiefly the coast-belt where we may expect occurrences of 

 younger formations. And accordingly we find there from the 



