106 



THE WE AGE IX XORTH AMERICA. 



ward in the cold and rainy period, and the diminution in 

 the warm and the dry (' Archives Sci. Phys. -Nat.,' May 15, 

 1886, p. 503)."* 



The glaciers of Scandinavia, with their snow-iields, are 

 estimated to cover a space of about 5,000 square miles. The 



Fig. 37.— The Svartisen Glacier on the west coast of Norway, just within the Arctic cir- 

 cle, at the head of a fiord ten miles from the ocean. Mouth of the glacier one mile 

 wide, and a quarter of a mile back from the water. Terminal moraine in front. 

 (Photographed by Dr. L. C. Warner.) 



mountains are less lofty than the Alps, the greatest altitude 

 being about 8,500 feet. But the more northern latitude and 

 the moist climate are favorable to the production of glaciers. 

 The largest single snow-held is that of Justedal, in latitude 

 62°, occupying a plateau about 5,000 feet above the sea-level, 

 and an area of 580 square miles. From this plateau twenty- 

 four glaciers descend through the gorges leading toward the 

 North German Sea, the largest of which is about five miles 

 long and three quarters of a mile wide. The Fondalen snow- 

 field, in latitude 66° or 67°, is of nearly the same size with 



* " American Journal of Science," vol. exxxii, 1886, p. 77. 



