TheScandinavian Mountains or theScandes is amountain range that runs through theScandinavian Peninsula. The western sides of the mountains drop precipitously into theNorth Sea andNorwegian Sea, forming thefjords of Norway, whereas to the northeast they gradually curve towardsFinland. To the north they form the border betweenNorway andSweden, reaching 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) high at theArctic Circle. The mountain range just touches northwesternmost Finland but are scarcely more than hills at their northernmost extension at theNorth Cape (Nordkapp).
The mountains are relatively high for a range so young and are very steep in places;Galdhøpiggen inSouth Norway is the highest peak in mainlandNorthern Europe, at 2,469 metres (8,100 ft);Kebnekaise is the highest peak on the Swedish side, at 2,096.8 m (6,879 ft), whereas the slope ofHalti is the highest point in Finland, at 1,324 m (4,344 ft), although the peak of Halti is situated in Norway.
InSwedish, the mountain range is calledSkandinaviska fjällkedjan,Skanderna (encyclopedic and professional usage),Fjällen ('theFells', common in colloquial speech) orKölen ('the Keel'). InNorwegian, it is calledDen skandinaviske fjellkjede,Fjellet,Skandesfjellene,Kjølen ('the Keel') orNordryggen ('the North Ridge', name coined in 2013). The namesKölen andKjølen are often preferentially used for the northern part, where the mountains form a narrow range near the border region of Norway and Sweden. In South Norway, there is a broad scatter of mountain regions with individual names, such asDovrefjell,Hardangervidda,Jotunheimen, andRondane.[3][4][5][6]
The mountain chain's highest summits are mostly concentrated in an area ofmean altitude of over 1,000 m (3,300 ft),[7]) betweenStavanger andTrondheim in South Norway, with numerous peaks over 1,300 m (4,300 ft) and some peaks over 2,000 m (6,600 ft).[8] AroundTrondheim Fjord, peaks decrease in altitude to about 400–500 m (1,300–1,600 ft), rising again to heights in excess of 1,900 m (6,200 ft) further north inSwedish Lapland and nearby areas of Norway.[8][A] The southern part of the mountain range contains the highest mountain of Northern Europe,Galdhøpiggen at almost 2,500 m (8,200 ft).[10] This part of the mountain chain is also broader and contains a series ofplateaux and gently undulating surfaces[8][11] that hosts scatteredinselbergs.[11] The plateaux and undulating surfaces of the southern Scandinavian Mountains form a series of stepped surfaces. GeomorphologistKarna Lidmar-Bergström and co-workers recognize five widespread stepped surfaces. In eastern Norway, some of the stepped surfaces merge into a single surface.Dovrefjell andJotunheimen are rises from the highest of the stepped surfaces.[12] In south-western Norway, the plateaux and gently undulating surfaces are stronglydissected byfjords andvalleys.[13] The mountain chain is present in Sweden from northernDalarna northwards; south of this point the Scandinavian Mountains lie completely within Norway.[8] Most of the Scandinavian Mountains lack "alpine topography",[B] and where present it does not relate to altitude.[11] An example of this is the distribution ofcirques in southern Norway that can be found both near sea level and at 2,000 m (6,600 ft). Most cirques are found between 1,000 and 1,500 m (3,300 and 4,900 ft).[15]
Formation of the mountains of southern Norway (the Southern Scandes).[16]
To the east, the Scandinavian Mountains proper bound with mountains that are lower and less dissected and are known in Swedish as theförfjäll (literally 'fore-fell'). Generally theförfjäll do not surpass 1,000 m (3,300 ft) above sea level. As a geomorphic unit theförfjäll extends across Sweden as a 650 km (400 mi) long and 40-to-80 km (25-to-50 mi) broad belt from Dalarna in the south toNorrbotten in the north. While lower than the Scandinavian Mountains proper, theförfjäll's pronouncedrelief, its large number of plateaux, and its coherent valley system distinguish it from so-called undulating hilly terrain (Swedish:bergkullsterräng) and plains with residual hills (Swedish:bergkullslätt) found further east.[17]
Topographic map of the Jotunheimen and Dovre Rondane areas. Widespread alpine permafrost may be expected at the altitude of the -3.5°C MAAT (red). The glaciation limit (blue) shows the opposite trend.
Theclimate of the Nordic countries is maritime along the coast of Norway, and much more continental in Sweden in therain shadow of the Scandinavian Mountains. The combination of a northerly location and moisture from the NorthAtlantic Ocean has caused the formation of manyice fields andglaciers. In the mountains, the air temperature decreases with increasing altitude, and patches of mountainpermafrost in regions with a mean annual air temperature (MAAT) of −1.5 °C (29.5 °F) will be found at wind exposed sites with little snow cover during winter. Higher up, widespread permafrost may be expected at altitudes with a MAAT of −3.5 °C (25.5 °F), continuous permafrost at altitudes with a MAAT of −6 °C (21 °F).[18]
Within the EU-sponsored project PACE (Permafrost and Climate in Europe), a 100 m (330 ft) deep borehole was drilled in bedrock aboveTarfala research station at an altitude of 1,540 m (5,050 ft) above sea level. The stable ground temperature at a depth of 100 metres (330 ft) is still −2.75 °C (27.05 °F).[19] The measuredgeothermal gradient in the drillhole of 1.17 °C /100 m allows to extrapolate a permafrost thickness of 330 metres (1,080 ft), a further proof that continuous permafrost exists in these altitudes and above, up to the top ofKebnekaise.
In the Scandinavian Mountains, the lower limit of widespread discontinuous permafrost drops from 1,700 metres (5,600 ft) in the west of southern Norway to 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) near the border with Sweden, and from 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) in northern Norway to 1,100 metres (3,600 ft) in northern, more continental Sweden (Kebnekaise area).[20] In contrast to the lower limit of permafrost, the mean glacier altitude (or glaciation limit) is related to the amount ofprecipitation. Thus thesnow line, or glacier equilibrium line as the limit between theaccumulation zone andablation zone shows the opposite trend, from 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) in the west (Jostefonn) to 2,100 metres (6,900 ft) in the east (Jotunheimen).
Most of the rocks of the Scandinavian Mountains are Caledonian, which means they were put in place by theCaledonian orogeny. Caledonian rocks overlie rocks of the much olderSvecokarelian andSveconorwegianprovinces. The Caledonian rocks actually form largenappes (Swedish:skollor) that have beenthrust over the older rocks. Much of the Caledonian rocks have been eroded since they were put in place, meaning that they were once thicker and more contiguous. It is also implied from the erosion that the nappes of Caledonian rock once reached further east than they do today. The erosion has left remaining massifs of Caledonian rocks andwindows ofPrecambrian rock.[21]
While there are some disagreements, geologists generally recognize fourunits among the nappes: an uppermost, an upper, a middle and a lower unit. The lower unit is made upEdiacaran (Vendian),Cambrian,Ordovician andSilurian-agedsedimentary rocks. Pieces of Precambrianshield rocks are in some places also incorporated into the lower nappes.[21]
It was during the Silurian andDevonianperiods that the Caledonian nappes were stacked upon the older rocks and upon themselves. This occurred in connection with theclosure of theIapetus Ocean as the ancient continents ofLaurentia andBalticacollided.[21] This collision produced aHimalayan-sized mountain range named theCaledonian Mountains roughly over the same area as the present-day Scandinavian Mountains.[22][23] The Caledonian Mountains began apost-orogenic collapse in the Devonian, implyingtectonic extension and subsidence.[24] Despite occurring in about the same area, the ancient Caledonian Mountains and the modern Scandinavian Mountains are unrelated.[C]
The origin of today's mountain topography is debated by geologists.[27] Geologically, the Scandinavian Mountains are an elevated,passive continental margin similar to the mountains and plateaux found on the opposite side of theNorth Atlantic inEastern Greenland or in Australia'sGreat Dividing Range.[23] The Scandinavian Mountains attained their height by tectonic processes different from orogeny, chiefly in theCenozoic.[26] A two-stagemodel of uplift has been proposed for the Scandinavian Mountains in South Norway. A first stage in theMesozoic and a second stage starting from theOligocene.[22] The uplift of South Norway has elevated the westernmost extension of thesub-Cambrian peneplain which forms part of what is known as thePaleic surface[D] in Norway.[29][30] In South Norway, the Scandinavian Mountains had their main uplift phase later (Neogene) than in northern Scandinavia which had its main phase of uplift in thePaleogene.[31] For example, theHardangervidda uplifted from sea level to its present 1,200–1,100 m (3,900–3,600 ft) inEarly Pliocene times.[32]
The various episodes of uplift of the Scandinavian Mountains were similar in orientation and tilted land surfaces to the east while allowingrivers to incise the landscape.[33] Some of the tilted surfaces constitute theMuddus plains landscape ofnorthern Sweden.[31] The progressive tilt contributed to create the paralleldrainage pattern of northern Sweden.[33] Uplift is thought to have been accommodated by coast-parallelnormal faults and not by fault-lessdoming.[33][34] Therefore, the common labelling of the southern Scandinavian Mountains and the northern Scandinavian Mountains as two domes is misleading.[33] There are divided opinions on the relation between the coastal plains of Norway, thestrandflat, and the uplift of the mountains.[E]
Unlikeorogenic mountains, there is no widely acceptedgeophysical model to explain elevated passive continental margins such as the Scandinavian Mountains.[40] Various mechanisms of uplift have, however, been proposed over the years. A 2012 study argues that the Scandinavian Mountains and other elevated passive continental margins most likely share the same mechanism of uplift and that this mechanism is related to far-field stresses in Earth'slithosphere. The Scandinavian Mountains can according to this view be likened to a giantanticlinal lithosphericfold. Folding could have been caused by horizontal compression acting on a thin to thick crust transition zone (as are all passive margins).[41][42]
Alternative lines of research have stressed therole of climate in inducing erosion thatinduces an isostatic compensation;[25] fluvial and glacial erosion and incision during the Quaternary is thought to have contributed to the uplift of the mountain by forcing anisostatic response.[25][27] The total amount of uplift produced by this mechanism could be as much as 500 m (1,600 ft).[27] Other geoscientists have implieddiapirism in theasthenosphere as being the cause of uplift.[25] One hypothesis states that the early uplift of the Scandinavian Mountains could be indebted to changes in the density of the lithosphere and asthenosphere caused by theIceland plume when Greenland and Scandinaviarifted apart about 53 million years ago.[43]
Many slopes and valleys are straight because they follow tectonicfractures that are more prone to erosion.[13] Another result of tectonics in the relief is that slopes corresponding tofootwalls ofnormal faults tend to be straight.[11]There is evidence that thedrainage divide between theNorwegian Sea and the south-east flowing rivers were once further west.[13] Glacial erosion is thought to have contributed to the shift of the divide, which in some cases ought to have been in excess of 50 km.[13] Much of the Scandinavian Mountains has been sculpted byglacial erosion. The mountain chain is dotted with glacialcirques usually separated from each other bypre-glacialpaleosurfaces.[8] Glacier erosion has been limited in these paleosurfaces which form usually plateaus between valleys. As such the paleosurfaces were subject of diverging and slow ice flow during the glaciations. In contrast valleys concentrated ice flow forming fast glaciers orice streams.[15] At some locations coalesced cirques formarêtes andpyramidal peaks. Glacial reshaping of valleys is more marked in the western part of the mountain chain where drowned glacier-shaped valleys constitute the fjords of Norway. In the eastern part of the mountain chain, glacial reshaping of valleys is weaker.[8] Many mountain tops containblockfields which escaped glacial erosion either by having beennunataks in the glacial periods or by being protected from erosion undercold-based glacier ice.[13]Karst systems, with their characteristiccaves andsinkholes, occur at various places in the Scandinavian Mountains, but are more common in the northern parts. Present-day karst systems might have long histories dating back to the Pleistocene or even earlier.[13]Much of the mountain range is mantled by deposits of glacial origin includingtill blankets,moraines,drumlins and glaciofluvial material in the form ofoutwash plains andeskers. Bare rock surfaces are more common in the western side of the mountain range. Although the ages of these deposits and landforms vary, most of them were formed in connection to theWeichselian glaciation and the subsequentdeglaciation.[13]
Reconstruction of Europe during theLast Glacial Maximum of the Weichselian andWürm glaciations periods. note that the whole of the Scandinavian Mountains are covered with glacier ice (white).
TheCenozoic glaciations that affectedFennoscandia most likely began in the Scandinavian Mountains.[44] It is estimated that during 50% of the last 2.75 million years the Scandinavian Mountains hosted mountain-centeredice caps andice fields.[45] The ice fields from which theFennoscandian Ice Sheet grew out multiple times most likely resembled today's ice fields inAndeanPatagonia.[44][F] During thelast glacial maximum (ca. 20kaBP) all the Scandinavian Mountains were covered by the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet, which extended well beyond the mountains into Denmark, Germany, Poland and theformer USSR. As the ice margin started to recede 22–17 ka BP the ice sheet became increasingly concentrated in the Scandinavian Mountains. Recession of the ice margin led the ice sheet to be concentrated in two parts of the Scandinavian Mountains, one part in South Norway and another in northern Sweden and Norway. These two centres were for a time linked, so that the linkage constituted a major drainage barrier that formed various large ephemeralice-dammed lakes. About 10 ka BP, the linkage had disappeared and so did the southern centre of the ice sheet a thousand years later. The northern centre remained a few hundred years more, and by 9,7 ka BP the easternSarek Mountains hosted the last remnant of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet.[46] As the ice sheet retreated to the Scandinavian Mountains it was dissimilar to the early mountain glaciation that gave origin to the ice sheet as theice divide lagged behind as the ice mass concentrated in the west.[44]
Of the 10 highest mountain peaks in Scandinavia (prominence greater than 30 m or 98 ft), six are situated inInnlandet county, Norway. The other four are situated inVestland county, Norway.
There are 12 peaks inSweden that reach above 2,000 m high (6,600 ft), or 13 depending on how the peaks are defined. Eight of them are located inSarek National Park and the neighbouring national parkStora Sjöfallet. The other four peaks are located in the further north region ofKebnekaise. All mountain names are inSami but with the more common Swedish spelling of it.
2,097 m (6,880 ft)Kebnekaise Nordtoppen (Lappland) – the highest fixed point in Sweden.
Scandinavian Mountains, anAlpine Biogeographic Region as defined by the European Environment Agency and corrected by the Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management: red = Alpine region, yellow = Atlantic region, green = Boreal region, blue = Arctic region
^The two high areas, north and south ofTrondheim, have been usually referred to as "domes" but technically they are not geologicaldomes.[9]
^A topography classification study found that 13.6% of the area of southern Norway has a proper "alpine relief", and that this is mostly concentrated in the fjord region of southwestern Norway and the valley ofGudbrandsdalen. About half of the "alpine relief" area is characterized has steep slopes andover-deepenedglacial valleys. The other half is made up of coastal mountains and intermediate-relief glacial valleys.[14]
^The overlap between theScandinavian Caledonides and the Scandinavian Mountains has led to various suggestions that the modern Scandinavian Mountains are a remnant of the Caledonide mountains.[23][25] A version of this argument was put forward in 2009 with the claim that the uplift of the mountains was attained bybuoyancy of the surviving "mountain roots" of the Caledonianorogen.[23] This concept has been criticized since, at present, there is only a tiny "mountain root" beneath the southern Scandinavian Mountains and no "root" at all in the north. Further, the Caledonian Mountains in Scandinavia are known to have undergoneorogenic collapse for a long period starting in theDevonian.[23][26][24] Another problem with this model is that it does not explain why other former mountains dating back to theCaledonian orogeny are eroded and buried in sediments and not uplifted by their "roots".[23]
^After being first described byHans Reusch in 1901 the Paleic surface was the subject of various interpretations in the 20th century.[23][28]
^Tormod Klemsdal regard the strandflat as old surfaces shaped bydeep weathering that escaped the uplift that affected the Scandinavian Mountains,[35] a view concordant with aTriassic (c. 210 million years ago) origin for the strandflat postulated in the 2010s by Odleiv Olesen, Ola Fredin and their respective co-workers.[36][37] YetHans Holtedahl claimed in 1998 that strandflats formed after aTertiary uplift the mountains noting however that inTrøndelag between Nordland andWestern Norway the strandflat could be a surface formed before theJurassic, then buried in sediments and at some point freed from this cover.[38] Haakon Fossen and co-workers added to the debate in 2017 that movement ofgeological faults in the Late Mesozoic should imply the strandflats of Western Norway took their final shape after theLate Jurassic or else they would occur at various heights above sea level.[39]
^Redfield, T.F.; Osmundsen, P.T. (2013). "The long-term topographic response of a continent adjacent to a hyperextended margin: A case study from Scandinavia".GSA Bulletin.125 (1/2):184–200.Bibcode:2013GSAB..125..184R.doi:10.1130/B30691.1.
^abcdefgCorner, Geoffrey (2004). "Scandes Mountains". InSeppälä, Matti (ed.).The Physical Geography of Fennoscandia. Oxford University Press. pp. 240–254.ISBN978-0-19-924590-1.
^Etzelmüller, Bernd; Romstad, Bård; Fjellanger, Jakob (2007). "Automatic regional classification of topography in Norway".Norwegian Journal of Geology.87:167–180.
^abHall, Adrian M.; Ebert, Karin; Kleman, Johan; Nesje, Atle; Ottesen, Dag (2013). "Selective glacial erosion on the Norwegian passive margin".Geology.41 (12):1203–1206.Bibcode:2013Geo....41.1203H.doi:10.1130/g34806.1.
^Terrängformer i Norden (in Swedish). Nordiska ministerrådet. 1984. p. 10.
^King, Lorenz (1986). "Zonation and ecology of high mountain permafrost in Scandinavia".Geografiska Annaler.68A (3):131–139.doi:10.1080/04353676.1986.11880166.
^abGabrielsen, Roy H.; Faleide, Jan Inge; Pascal, Christophe; Braathen, Alvar; Nystuen, Johan Petter; Etzelmuller, Bernd; O'Donnel, Sejal (2010). "Latest Caledonian to Present tectonomorphological development of southern Norway".Marine and Petroleum Geology.27 (3):709–723.doi:10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2009.06.004.
^abDewey, J.F.; Ryan, P.D.; Andersen, T.B. (1993). "Orogenic uplift and collapse, crustal thickness, fabrics and metamorphic phase changes: the role of eclogites".Geological Society, London, Special Publications.76 (1):325–343.Bibcode:1993GSLSP..76..325D.doi:10.1144/gsl.sp.1993.076.01.16.S2CID55985869.
^abcdSchiffer, Christian; Balling, Neils; Ebbing, Jörg; Holm Jacobsen, Bo; Nielsen, Søren Bom (2016). "Geophysical-petrological modelling of the East Greenland Caledonides – Isostatic support from crust and upper mantle".Tectonophysics.692:44–57.doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2016.06.023.
^Jarsve, Erlend M.; Krøgli, Svein Olav; Etzelmüller, Bernd; Gabrielsen, Roy H. (2014). "Automatic identification of topographic surfaces related to the sub-Cambrian peneplain (SCP) in Southern Norway—Surface generation algorithms and implications".Geomorphology.211:89–99.Bibcode:2014Geomo.211...89J.doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2013.12.032.
^abLidmar-Bergström, K.; Näslund, J.O. (2002). "Landforms and uplift in Scandinavia". In Doré, A.G.; Cartwright, J.A.; Stoker, M.S.; Turner, J.P.; White, N. (eds.).Exhumation of the North Atlantic Margin: Timing, Mechanisms and Implications for Petroleum Exploration. Geological Society, London, Special Publications. The Geological Society of London. pp. 103–116.
^abcdRedfied, T.F.; Osmundsen, P.T. (2013). "The long-term topographic response of a continent adjacent to a hyperextended margin: A case study from Scandinavia".GSA Bulletin.125 (1):184–200.Bibcode:2013GSAB..125..184R.doi:10.1130/B30691.1.
^Klemsdal, Tormod (2005). "Strandflat". In Schwartz, Maurice L. (ed.).Encyclopedia of Coastal Science. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. pp. 914–915.ISBN978-1-4020-3880-8.
^Olesen, Odleiv; Kierulf, Halfdan Pascal; Brönner, Marco; Dalsegg, Einar; Fredin, Ola; Solbakk, Terje (2013). "Deep weathering, neotectonics and strandflat formation in Nordland, northern Norway".Norwegian Journal of Geology.93:189–213.
^Nielsen, S.B.; Paulsen, G.E.; Hansen, D.L.; Gemmer, L.; Clausen, O.R.; Jacobsen, B.H.; Balling, N.; Huuse, M.; Gallagher, K. (2002). "Paleocene initiation of Cenozoic uplift in Norway". In Doré, A.G.; Cartwright, J.A.; Stoker, M.S.; Turner, J.P.; White, N. (eds.).Exhumation of the North Atlantic Margin: Timing, Mechanisms and Implications for Petroleum Exploration. Geological Society, London, Special Publications. The Geological Society of London. pp. 103–116.
