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The Scandinavian Mountains or the Scandes is a
mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...
that runs through the
Scandinavian Peninsula The Scandinavian Peninsula is located in Northern Europe, and roughly comprises the mainlands of Sweden, Norway and the northwestern area of Finland. The name of the peninsula is derived from the term Scandinavia, the cultural region of Denm ...
. The western sides of the mountains drop precipitously into the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...
and
Norwegian Sea The Norwegian Sea (; ; ) is a marginal sea, grouped with either the Atlantic Ocean or the Arctic Ocean, northwest of Norway between the North Sea and the Greenland Sea, adjoining the Barents Sea to the northeast. In the southwest, it is separate ...
, forming the fjords of Norway, whereas to the northeast they gradually curve towards
Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
. To the north they form the border between
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
and
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
, reaching high at the
Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...
. The mountain range just touches northwesternmost Finland but are scarcely more than hills at their northernmost extension at the North Cape (). The mountains are relatively high for a range so young and are very steep in places;
Galdhøpiggen Galdhøpiggen () is the highest mountain in Norway, Scandinavia, and Northern Europe. The mountain is located in Lom Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is in the Jotunheimen mountains within Jotunheimen National Park. The mountain si ...
in South Norway is the highest peak in mainland
Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other ge ...
, at ;
Kebnekaise Kebnekaise (; from Sami language, Sami or , "Cauldron Crest") is the highest mountain in Sweden. The Kebnekaise massif, which is part of the Scandinavian Mountains, Scandinavian mountain range, has two main peaks. The glaciated southern peak use ...
is the highest peak on the Swedish side, at , whereas the slope of
Halti Halti (, rarely , , ) is a fell at the border between Norway and Finland. The peak (elevation ) of the fell, called ''Ráisduottarháldi'', is in Norway, on the border Nordreisa Municipality and Gáivuotna Municipality (Kåfjord), about north ...
is the highest point in Finland, at , although the peak of Halti is situated in Norway. The Scandinavian montane birch forest and grasslands
terrestrial ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...
is closely associated with the mountain range.


Names in Scandinavia

In Swedish, the mountain range is called , (encyclopedic and professional usage), ('the
Fell A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or Moorland, moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle of M ...
s', common in colloquial speech) or ('the Keel'). In Norwegian, it is called , , , ('the Keel') or ('the North Ridge', name coined in 2013). The names and 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 as
Dovrefjell Dovrefjell is a mountain range in Central Norway that forms a natural barrier between Eastern Norway and Trøndelag. The mountain range is located in Innlandet, Møre og Romsdal, and Trøndelag counties in Norway. As a result of its central loca ...
,
Hardangervidda Hardangervidda () is a mountain plateau ( Norwegian: ''vidde'') in central southern Norway, covering parts of Vestland, Telemark, and Buskerud counties. It is the largest plateau of its kind in Europe, with a cold year-round alpine climate, and o ...
,
Jotunheimen Jotunheimen (; "the home of the Jötunn") is a mountainous area of roughly in southern Norway and is part of the long range known as the Scandinavian Mountains. The 29 highest mountains in Norway are all located in the Jotunheimen mountains, in ...
, and
Rondane Rondane National Park () is the oldest national park in Norway, established on 21 December 1962. The park is located in Innlandet county, in the municipalities of Dovre Municipality, Dovre, Folldal Municipality, Folldal, Sel Municipality, Sel, No ...
.


Orography

The mountain chain's highest summits are mostly concentrated in an area of
mean A mean is a quantity representing the "center" of a collection of numbers and is intermediate to the extreme values of the set of numbers. There are several kinds of means (or "measures of central tendency") in mathematics, especially in statist ...
altitude of over ,) between
Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...
and
Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...
in South Norway, with numerous peaks over and some peaks over . Around
Trondheim Fjord The Trondheim Fjord or Trondheimsfjorden (), an inlet of the Norwegian Sea, is Norway's third-longest fjord at long. It is located in the west-central part of the country in Trøndelag county, and it stretches from Ørland Municipality in th ...
, peaks decrease in altitude to about , rising again to heights in excess of further north in Swedish Lapland and nearby areas of Norway. The southern part of the mountain range contains the highest mountain of Northern Europe,
Galdhøpiggen Galdhøpiggen () is the highest mountain in Norway, Scandinavia, and Northern Europe. The mountain is located in Lom Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is in the Jotunheimen mountains within Jotunheimen National Park. The mountain si ...
at almost . This part of the mountain chain is also broader and contains a series of plateaux and gently undulating surfaces that hosts scattered
inselberg An inselberg or monadnock ( ) is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain. In Southern Africa, a similar formation of granite is known as a koppie, an ...
s. The plateaux and undulating surfaces of the southern Scandinavian Mountains form a series of stepped surfaces. Geomorphologist Karna Lidmar-Bergström and co-workers recognize five widespread stepped surfaces. In eastern Norway, some of the stepped surfaces merge into a single surface.
Dovre Dovre is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Dovre (villag ...
and
Jotunheimen Jotunheimen (; "the home of the Jötunn") is a mountainous area of roughly in southern Norway and is part of the long range known as the Scandinavian Mountains. The 29 highest mountains in Norway are all located in the Jotunheimen mountains, in ...
are rises from the highest of the stepped surfaces. In south-western Norway, the plateaux and gently undulating surfaces are strongly dissected by
fjord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...
s and
valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...
s. The mountain chain is present in Sweden from northern
Dalarna Dalarna (; ), also referred to by the English exonyms Dalecarlia and the Dales, is a (historical province) in central Sweden. Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland. It is also bordered by Nor ...
northwards; south of this point the Scandinavian Mountains lie completely within Norway. Most of the Scandinavian Mountains lack "alpine topography", and where present it does not relate to altitude. An example of this is the distribution of
cirque A (; from the Latin word ) is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by Glacier#Erosion, glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from , meaning a pot or cauldron) and ; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landform a ...
s in southern Norway that can be found both near sea level and at . Most cirques are found between . To the east, the Scandinavian Mountains proper bound with mountains that are lower and less dissected and are known in Swedish as the (literally 'fore-fell'). Generally the do not surpass above sea level. As a geomorphic unit the extends across Sweden as a long and broad belt from Dalarna in the south to
Norrbotten Norrbotten (), sometimes called North Bothnia, is a Swedish province (''landskap'') in northernmost Sweden. It borders south to Västerbotten, west to Swedish Lapland, and east to Finland. Administration The traditional provinces of Swede ...
in the north. While lower than the Scandinavian Mountains proper, the '''s'' pronounced
relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...
, its large number of plateaux, and its coherent valley system distinguish it from so-called undulating hilly terrain (Swedish: ) and plains with residual hills (Swedish: ) found further east.


Climate, permafrost and glaciers

The
climate of the Nordic countries The climate of the Nordic countries is that of a region in Northern Europe that consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, which include the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland. Stockholm, Sweden ha ...
is maritime along the coast of Norway, and much more continental in Sweden in the
rain shadow A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from body of water, bodies of water (such as oceans and larg ...
of the Scandinavian Mountains. The combination of a northerly location and moisture from the North
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
has caused the formation of many
ice field An ice field (also spelled icefield) is a mass of interconnected valley glaciers (also called mountain glaciers or alpine glaciers) on a mountain mass with protruding rock ridges or summits. They are often found in the colder climates and high ...
s and
glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...
s. In the mountains, the air temperature decreases with increasing altitude, and patches of mountain
permafrost Permafrost () is soil or underwater sediment which continuously remains below for two years or more; the oldest permafrost has been continuously frozen for around 700,000 years. Whilst the shallowest permafrost has a vertical extent of below ...
in regions with a mean annual air temperature (MAAT) of 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 , continuous permafrost at altitudes with a MAAT of . Within the EU-sponsored project PACE (Permafrost and Climate in Europe), a deep borehole was drilled in bedrock above Tarfala research station at an altitude of above sea level. The stable ground temperature at a depth of is still . The measured
geothermal gradient Geothermal gradient is the rate of change in temperature with respect to increasing depth in Earth's interior. As a general rule, the crust temperature rises with depth due to the heat flow from the much hotter mantle; away from tectonic plat ...
in the drillhole of 1.17 °C /100 m allows to extrapolate a permafrost thickness of , a further proof that continuous permafrost exists in these altitudes and above, up to the top of Kebnekaise. In the Scandinavian Mountains, the lower limit of widespread discontinuous permafrost drops from in the west of southern Norway to near the border with Sweden, and from in northern Norway to in northern, more continental Sweden (
Kebnekaise Kebnekaise (; from Sami language, Sami or , "Cauldron Crest") is the highest mountain in Sweden. The Kebnekaise massif, which is part of the Scandinavian Mountains, Scandinavian mountain range, has two main peaks. The glaciated southern peak use ...
area). In contrast to the lower limit of permafrost, the mean glacier altitude (or glaciation limit) is related to the amount of
precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...
. Thus the
snow line The climatic snow line is the boundary between a snow-covered and snow-free surface. The actual snow line may adjust seasonally, and be either significantly higher in elevation, or lower. The permanent snow line is the level above which snow wil ...
, or glacier equilibrium line as the limit between the
accumulation zone On a glacier, the accumulation zone is the area above the firn line, where snowfall accumulates and exceeds the losses from ablation, ( melting, evaporation, and sublimation). The annual equilibrium line separates the accumulation and ablation ...
and
ablation zone Ablation zone or ''ablation area'' refers to the low-altitude area of a glacier or ice sheet below firn with a net loss in ice mass. This loss can result from melting, sublimation, evaporation, ice calving, aeolian processes like blowing snow, ...
shows the opposite trend, from in the west (
Jostefonn The Jostefonn glacier is located in Vestland county, Norway. It covers an area of around in the municipalities of Sunnfjord (municipality), Sunnfjord and Sogndal. Jostefonn was formerly a part of the large Jostedalsbreen glacier, but it is no l ...
) to in the east (
Jotunheimen Jotunheimen (; "the home of the Jötunn") is a mountainous area of roughly in southern Norway and is part of the long range known as the Scandinavian Mountains. The 29 highest mountains in Norway are all located in the Jotunheimen mountains, in ...
).


Geology


Bedrock

Most of the rocks of the Scandinavian Mountains are Caledonian, which means they were put in place by the
Caledonian orogeny The Caledonian orogeny was a mountain-building cycle recorded in the northern parts of the British Isles, the Scandinavian Caledonides, Svalbard, eastern Greenland and parts of north-central Europe. The Caledonian orogeny encompasses events tha ...
. Caledonian rocks overlie rocks of the much older Svecokarelian and Sveconorwegian
provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...
. The Caledonian rocks actually form large
nappe In geology, a nappe or thrust sheet is a large sheetlike body of rock that has been moved more than or above a thrust fault from its original position. Nappes form in compressional tectonic settings like continental collision zones or on the ...
s () that have been thrust 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 and
windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
of
Precambrian The Precambrian ( ; or pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pC, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of t ...
rock. While there are some disagreements, geologists generally recognize four
units Unit may refer to: General measurement * Unit of measurement, a definite magnitude of a physical quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law **International System of Units (SI), modern form of the metric system **English units, histo ...
among the nappes: an uppermost, an upper, a middle and a lower unit. The lower unit is made up
Ediacaran The Ediacaran ( ) is a geological period of the Neoproterozoic geologic era, Era that spans 96 million years from the end of the Cryogenian Period at 635 Million years ago, Mya to the beginning of the Cambrian Period at 538.8 Mya. It is the last ...
(
Vendian The Ediacaran ( ) is a geological period of the Neoproterozoic geologic era, Era that spans 96 million years from the end of the Cryogenian Period at 635 Million years ago, Mya to the beginning of the Cambrian Period at 538.8 Mya. It is the last ...
),
Cambrian The Cambrian ( ) is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 51.95 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran period 538.8 Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Ordov ...
,
Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era, and the second of twelve periods of the Phanerozoic Eon (geology), Eon. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years f ...
and
Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 23.5 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the third and shortest period of t ...
-aged
sedimentary rocks Sedimentary rocks are types of rock formed by the cementation of sediments—i.e. particles made of minerals (geological detritus) or organic matter (biological detritus)—that have been accumulated or deposited at Earth's surface. Sedim ...
. Pieces of Precambrian
shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry like spears or long ranged projectiles suc ...
rocks are in some places also incorporated into the lower nappes. It was during the Silurian and
Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...
periods that the Caledonian nappes were stacked upon the older rocks and upon themselves. This occurred in connection with the closure of the
Iapetus Ocean The Iapetus Ocean (; ) existed in the late Neoproterozoic and early Paleozoic eras of the geologic timescale (between 600 and 400 million years ago). It was in the southern hemisphere, between the paleocontinents of Laurentia, Baltica and Avalon ...
as the ancient continents of
Laurentia Laurentia or the North American craton is a large continental craton that forms the Geology of North America, ancient geological core of North America. Many times in its past, Laurentia has been a separate continent, as it is now in the form of ...
and
Baltica Baltica is a paleocontinent that formed in the Paleoproterozoic and now constitutes northwestern Eurasia, or Europe north of the Trans-European Suture Zone and west of the Ural Mountains. The thick core of Baltica, the East European Craton, i ...
collided. This collision produced a
Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than 100 pea ...
n-sized mountain range named the Caledonian Mountains roughly over the same area as the present-day Scandinavian Mountains. The Caledonian Mountains began a
post-orogenic collapse In geology, orogenic collapse is the thinning and lateral spread of thickened crust. It is a broad term referring to processes which distribute material from regions of high gravitational potential energy to regions of low gravitational potential ...
in the Devonian, implying tectonic extension and subsidence. Despite occurring in about the same area, the ancient Caledonian Mountains and the modern Scandinavian Mountains are unrelated.


Origin

The origin of today's mountain topography is debated by geologists. Geologically, the Scandinavian Mountains are an elevated, passive continental margin similar to the mountains and plateaux found on the opposite side of the
North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...
in
Eastern Greenland Tunu, in Danish Østgrønland ("East Greenland"), was one of the three counties (''amter'') of Greenland until 31 December 2008. The county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or pa ...
or in Australia's
Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills. It runs roughl ...
. The Scandinavian Mountains attained their height by tectonic processes different from orogeny, chiefly in the
Cenozoic The Cenozoic Era ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterized by the dominance of mammals, insects, birds and angiosperms (flowering plants). It is the latest of three g ...
. A two-stage
model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...
of uplift has been proposed for the Scandinavian Mountains in South Norway. A first stage in the
Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...
and a second stage starting from the
Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...
. The uplift of South Norway has elevated the westernmost extension of the
sub-Cambrian peneplain The sub-Cambrian peneplain is an ancient, extremely flat, erosion surface (peneplain) that has been exhumed and exposed by erosion from under Cambrian strata over large swathes of Fennoscandia. Eastward, where this peneplain dips below Cambrian an ...
which forms part of what is known as the
Paleic surface The paleic surface or palaeic surface (, ) is an erosion surface of gentle slopes that exist in South Norway. Parts of it are a continuation of the Sub-Cambrian peneplain and Muddus Plains found further east or equivalent to the strandflat co ...
in Norway. In South Norway, the Scandinavian Mountains had their main uplift phase later (
Neogene The Neogene ( ,) is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period million years ago. It is the second period of th ...
) than in northern Scandinavia which had its main phase of uplift in the
Paleogene The Paleogene Period ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period Ma. It is the fir ...
. For example, the
Hardangervidda Hardangervidda () is a mountain plateau ( Norwegian: ''vidde'') in central southern Norway, covering parts of Vestland, Telemark, and Buskerud counties. It is the largest plateau of its kind in Europe, with a cold year-round alpine climate, and o ...
uplifted from sea level to its present in
Early Pliocene Early may refer to: Places in the United States * Early, Iowa, a city * Early, Texas, a city * Early Branch, a stream in Missouri * Early County, Georgia * Fort Early, Georgia, an early 19th century fort Music * Early B, stage name of Jamaican d ...
times. The various episodes of uplift of the Scandinavian Mountains were similar in orientation and tilted land surfaces to the east while allowing rivers to incise the landscape. Some of the tilted surfaces constitute the Muddus plains landscape of
northern Sweden Norrland (, , originally ''Norrlanden'', meaning 'the Northlands') is the northernmost, largest and least populated of the three traditional lands of Sweden, consisting of nine provinces. Although Norrland does not serve any administrative pu ...
. The progressive tilt contributed to create the parallel drainage pattern of northern Sweden. Uplift is thought to have been accommodated by coast-parallel
normal fault In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...
s and not by fault-less doming. Therefore, the common labelling of the southern Scandinavian Mountains and the northern Scandinavian Mountains as two domes is misleading. There are divided opinions on the relation between the coastal plains of Norway, the
strandflat Strandflat () is a landform typical of the Norway, Norwegian coast consisting of a flattish erosion surface on the coast and near-coast seabed. In Norway, strandflats provide room for settlements and agriculture in Norway, agriculture, constitut ...
, and the uplift of the mountains. Unlike orogenic mountains, there is no widely accepted
geophysical Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct investigations acros ...
model to explain elevated passive continental margins such as the Scandinavian Mountains. 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's
lithosphere A lithosphere () is the rigid, outermost rocky shell of a terrestrial planet or natural satellite. On Earth, it is composed of the crust and the lithospheric mantle, the topmost portion of the upper mantle that behaves elastically on time ...
. The Scandinavian Mountains can according to this view be likened to a giant
anticlinal Anticlinal may refer to: *Anticline, in structural geology, an anticline is a fold that is convex up and has its oldest beds at its core *Anticlinal, in stereochemistry, a torsion angle between 90° to 150°, and –90° to –150°; see Alkane_st ...
lithospheric fold. Folding could have been caused by horizontal compression acting on a thin to thick crust transition zone (as are all passive margins). Alternative lines of research have stressed the role of climate in inducing erosion that induces an isostatic compensation; fluvial and glacial erosion and incision during the Quaternary is thought to have contributed to the uplift of the mountain by forcing an isostatic response. The total amount of uplift produced by this mechanism could be as much as . Other geoscientists have implied
diapir A diapir (; , ) is a type of intrusion in which a more mobile and ductilely deformable material is forced into brittle overlying rocks. Depending on the tectonic environment, diapirs can range from idealized mushroom-shaped Rayleigh–Taylor ...
ism in the
asthenosphere The asthenosphere () is the mechanically weak and ductile region of the upper mantle of Earth. It lies below the lithosphere, at a depth between c. below the surface, and extends as deep as . However, the lower boundary of the asthenosphere i ...
as being the cause of uplift. 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 the
Iceland plume The Iceland hotspot is a hotspot that is partly responsible for the high volcanic activity that has formed the Iceland Plateau and the island of Iceland. It contributes to understanding the geological deformation of Iceland. Iceland is one ...
when Greenland and Scandinavia
rift In geology, a rift is a linear zone where the lithosphere is being pulled apart and is an example of extensional tectonics. Typical rift features are a central linear downfaulted depression, called a graben, or more commonly a half-graben ...
ed apart about 53 million years ago.


Quaternary geology

Many slopes and valleys are straight because they follow tectonic
fractures Fracture is the appearance of a crack or complete separation of an object or material into two or more pieces under the action of stress (mechanics), stress. The fracture of a solid usually occurs due to the development of certain displacemen ...
that are more prone to erosion. Another result of tectonics in the relief is that slopes corresponding to
footwall In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic f ...
s of
normal fault In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...
s tend to be straight. There is evidence that the
drainage divide A drainage divide, water divide, ridgeline, watershed, water parting or height of land is elevated terrain that separates neighboring drainage basins. On rugged land, the divide lies along topographical ridges, and may be in the form of a single ...
between the
Norwegian Sea The Norwegian Sea (; ; ) is a marginal sea, grouped with either the Atlantic Ocean or the Arctic Ocean, northwest of Norway between the North Sea and the Greenland Sea, adjoining the Barents Sea to the northeast. In the southwest, it is separate ...
and the south-east flowing rivers were once further west. 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. Much of the Scandinavian Mountains has been sculpted by
glacial erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...
. The mountain chain is dotted with glacial
cirque A (; from the Latin word ) is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by Glacier#Erosion, glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from , meaning a pot or cauldron) and ; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landform a ...
s usually separated from each other by pre-glacial
paleosurface In geology and geomorphology a paleosurface is a surface made by erosion of considerable antiquity. Paleosurfaces might be flat or uneven in some cases having considerable relief. Flat and large paleosurfaces —that is planation surfaces— have ...
s. 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 or ice streams. At some locations coalesced cirques form
arête An arête ( ; ) is a narrow ridge of rock that separates two valleys. It is typically formed when two glaciers erode parallel U-shaped valleys. Arêtes can also form when two glacial cirques erode headwards towards one another, although frequ ...
s and
pyramidal peak A pyramidal peak, sometimes called a glacial horn in extreme cases, is an angular, sharply pointed mountain peak which results from the cirque erosion due to multiple glaciers diverging from a central point. Pyramidal peaks are often examples o ...
s. 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. Many mountain tops contain
blockfield A blockfieldWhittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, 1984, pp. 66 and 190. . (also spelt block fieldLeser, Hartmut, ed. (2005). ''Wörterbuch Allgemeine Geographie'', 13th ed., dtv, Munich, pp. 107 and 221 ...
s which escaped glacial erosion either by having been
nunatak A nunatak (from Inuit language, Inuit ) is the summit or ridge of a mountain that protrudes from an ice field or glacier that otherwise covers most of the mountain or ridge. They often form natural pyramidal peaks. Isolated nunataks are also cal ...
s in the glacial periods or by being protected from erosion under cold-based glacier ice.
Karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...
systems, with their characteristic
cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...
s and
sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are also known as shakeholes, and to openings where surface water ...
s, 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. Much of the mountain range is mantled by deposits of glacial origin including
till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...
blankets,
moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and Rock (geology), rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a gla ...
s,
drumlin A drumlin, from the Irish word ("little ridge"), first recorded in 1833, in the classical sense is an elongated hill in the shape of an inverted spoon or half-buried egg formed by glacial ice acting on underlying unconsolidated till or groun ...
s and glaciofluvial material in the form of
outwash plain An outwash plain, also called a sandur (plural: ''sandurs''), sandr or sandar, is a plain formed of glaciofluvial deposits due to meltwater outwash at the glacier terminus, terminus of a glacier. As it flows, the glacier grinds the underlying r ...
s and
esker An esker, eskar, eschar, or os, sometimes called an ''asar'', ''osar'', or ''serpent kame'', is a long, winding ridge of stratified sand and gravel, examples of which occur in glaciated and formerly glaciated regions of Europe and North Amer ...
s. 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 the Weichselian glaciation and the subsequent
deglaciation Deglaciation is the transition from full glacial conditions during ice ages, to warm interglacials, characterized by global warming and sea level rise due to change in continental ice volume. Thus, it refers to the retreat of a glacier, an ice shee ...
. The Cenozoic glaciations that affected
Fennoscandia __NOTOC__ Fennoscandia (Finnish language, Finnish, Swedish language, Swedish and ; ), or the Fennoscandian Peninsula, is a peninsula in Europe which includes the Scandinavian Peninsula, Scandinavian and Kola Peninsula, Kola peninsulas, mainland ...
most likely began in the Scandinavian Mountains. It is estimated that during 50% of the last 2.75 million years the Scandinavian Mountains hosted mountain-centered
ice caps In glaciology, an ice cap is a mass of ice that covers less than of land Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of Earth not submerged by the ocean or another body of water. It makes up 29.2% ...
and
ice field An ice field (also spelled icefield) is a mass of interconnected valley glaciers (also called mountain glaciers or alpine glaciers) on a mountain mass with protruding rock ridges or summits. They are often found in the colder climates and high ...
s. The ice fields from which the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet grew out multiple times most likely resembled today's ice fields in
Andean The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long and wide (widest between 18°S ...
Patagonia Patagonia () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...
. During the
last glacial maximum The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), also referred to as the Last Glacial Coldest Period, was the most recent time during the Last Glacial Period where ice sheets were at their greatest extent between 26,000 and 20,000 years ago. Ice sheets covered m ...
(ca. 20 ka BP) all the Scandinavian Mountains were covered by the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet, which extended well beyond the mountains into Denmark, Germany, Poland and the
former USSR The post-Soviet states, also referred to as the former Soviet Union or the former Soviet republics, are the independent sovereign states that emerged/re-emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Prior to their independence, they ...
. 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 ephemeral ice-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 eastern Sarek Mountains hosted the last remnant of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet. 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 the
ice divide An ice divide is the boundary on an ice sheet, ice cap or glacier separating opposite flow directions of ice, analogous to a water divide. Ice divides are important for geochronological investigations that use ice cores, since such coring is typic ...
lagged behind as the ice mass concentrated in the west.


Highest mountains


Norway

Of the 10 highest mountain peaks in Scandinavia (
prominence In topography, prominence or relative height (also referred to as autonomous height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contour line encircling ...
greater than ), six are situated in
Oppland Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The ...
, Norway. The other four are situated in
Sogn og Fjordane Sogn og Fjordane (; literally "Parish and the Fjords") was a Counties of Norway, county in western Norway, from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, after it was merged to become part of Vestland county. Bordering previous counties Møre og Romsda ...
, Norway. #
Galdhøpiggen Galdhøpiggen () is the highest mountain in Norway, Scandinavia, and Northern Europe. The mountain is located in Lom Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is in the Jotunheimen mountains within Jotunheimen National Park. The mountain si ...
(
Innlandet Innlandet is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. It was created on 1 January 2020 with the merger of the old counties of Oppland and Hedmark (Jevnaker Municipality and Lunner Municipality were transferred to the neighboring county of Viken ( ...
) # Glittertind (Innlandet) # Store Skagastølstind (
Vestland Vestland is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The county is located in Western Norway, and its administrative centre is Bergen, where the executive and political leadership is based. The County governor (Norway), County Governor is based in ...
) # Store Styggedalstinden east (Vestland) #
Skarstind Skarstind or Skardstinden is a prominent part of the Galdhøpiggen mountain range in northwestern Jotunheimen, Norway, and is the sixth highest summit in the country. The mountain has three summits, the main summit at above sea level, Nåle (t ...
(Innlandet) #
Vesle Galdhøpiggen Vesle Galdhøpiggen or Veslpiggen is a mountain in Lom Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is the sixth highest mountain in Norway. The tall mountain is located in the Jotunheimen mountains within Jotunheimen National Park. The mountai ...
(Innlandet) #
Surtningssue Surtningssue or Surtningssui is a mountain on the border of Vågå Municipality and Lom Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The tall mountain is the seventh-highest mountain in Norway. It is located in the Jotunheimen mountains within Jo ...
(Innlandet) #
Store Memurutinden Store Memurutinden is the List of mountains in Norway by height, eighth-highest mountain in Norway. It is in Lom Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The tall mountain is located on the Memurutindene mountains within Jotunheimen National Pa ...
(Innlandet) #
Jervvasstind Jervvasstind (also known as: ''Gjertvasstind'' and ''Østre Styggedalstind'') is Norway's ninth-highest mountain. The mountain lies in the Hurrungane mountains in the eastern part of the municipality of Luster in Vestland county, Norway. It ...
(Vestland) #
Sentraltind Sentraltind (also known as ''Sentraltinden'' or ''Vestre Styggedalstind'') is a mountain in the Hurrungane mountains in the Jotunheimen mountain range. The tall mountain is located in the eastern part of the municipality of Luster in Vestland ...
(Vestland) Image:GaldhøpiggenFromFannaråki.jpg,
Galdhøpiggen Galdhøpiggen () is the highest mountain in Norway, Scandinavia, and Northern Europe. The mountain is located in Lom Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is in the Jotunheimen mountains within Jotunheimen National Park. The mountain si ...
seen from west, Norway's highest mountain Image:Glittertind1999.jpg, Glittertind Image:Falketind.jpg,
Falketind Falketind is a mountain in Årdal Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the Jotunheimen mountain range inside the Utladalen Landscape Protection Area. The mountain is east of the old mountain farm, Vettismorki, and nort ...
in
Jotunheimen Jotunheimen (; "the home of the Jötunn") is a mountainous area of roughly in southern Norway and is part of the long range known as the Scandinavian Mountains. The 29 highest mountains in Norway are all located in the Jotunheimen mountains, in ...
Image:Abisko alps.JPG, Landscape between
Abisko National Park Abisko National Park () is a List of national parks of Sweden, National Park in Sweden, established in 1909. Geography Abisko is situated in the Swedish province of Lapland (Sweden), Lapland near the Norway, Norwegian border (distance approx ...
and
Kebnekaise Kebnekaise (; from Sami language, Sami or , "Cauldron Crest") is the highest mountain in Sweden. The Kebnekaise massif, which is part of the Scandinavian Mountains, Scandinavian mountain range, has two main peaks. The glaciated southern peak use ...


Sweden

There are 12 peaks in
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
that reach above , or 13 depending on how the peaks are defined. Eight of them are located in Sarek National Park and the neighbouring national park Stora Sjöfallet. The other four peaks are located in the further north region of
Kebnekaise Kebnekaise (; from Sami language, Sami or , "Cauldron Crest") is the highest mountain in Sweden. The Kebnekaise massif, which is part of the Scandinavian Mountains, Scandinavian mountain range, has two main peaks. The glaciated southern peak use ...
. All mountain names are in
Sami Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ne ...
but with the more common Swedish spelling of it. #
Kebnekaise Kebnekaise (; from Sami language, Sami or , "Cauldron Crest") is the highest mountain in Sweden. The Kebnekaise massif, which is part of the Scandinavian Mountains, Scandinavian mountain range, has two main peaks. The glaciated southern peak use ...
( Lappland) – Note: Altitude includes the peak glacier. If melting continues, Kebnekaise Nordtoppen, just 500 meters away and 7 meters lower, might become the highest point. # Kebnekaise Nordtoppen (Lappland) – the highest fixed point in Sweden. # Sarektjåkkå Stortoppen (Lappland) #
Kaskasatjåkka Kaskasatjåkka is a mountain in Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. ...
(Lappland) # Sarektjåkkå Nordtoppen (Lappland) # Kaskasapakte (Lappland) # Sarektjåkkå Sydtoppen (Lappland) # Akka Stortoppen (Lappland) # Akka Nordvästtoppen (Lappland) # Sarektjåkkå Buchttoppen (Lappland) # Pårtetjåkka (Lappland) # Palkatjåkka (Lappland) ''Other popular mountains for skiers, climbers and hikers in Sweden'' * Sulitelma (Lappland) * Helagsfjället (
Härjedalen Härjedalen () is a historical province (''landskap'') in the centre of Sweden. It borders the Norwegian county of Trøndelag, as well as the provinces of Dalarna, Hälsingland, Medelpad and Jämtland. The province originally belonged to Norway, ...
) *
Norra Storfjället Norra Storfjället is a minor sub-range of the Scandinavian Mountains, located in the county of Västerbotten, in Lapland, Sweden. It is, for the most part, located within Vindelfjällen Nature Reserve. It reaches a maximum height of at the peak ...
(Lappland) * Templet (
Jämtland Jämtland () is a historical provinces of Sweden, province () in the centre of Sweden in northern Europe. It borders Härjedalen and Medelpad to the south, Ångermanland to the east, Lapland, Sweden, Lapland to the north and Trøndelag and Norw ...
) * Lillsylen (Jämtland) *
Åreskutan Åreskutan is a mountain at Åre in Jämtland in central Sweden. It is one of the better-known mountains in Sweden, with a history of winter sport tourism dating back to the 1800s. The mountain (and the village of Åre itself) is easily accessi ...
(Jämtland) * Storvätteshågna (
Dalarna Dalarna (; ), also referred to by the English exonyms Dalecarlia and the Dales, is a (historical province) in central Sweden. Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland. It is also bordered by Nor ...
) * Nipfjället (Dalarna) * Städjan (Dalarna)


Finland

# 1,324 m (4,344 ft)
Halti Halti (, rarely , , ) is a fell at the border between Norway and Finland. The peak (elevation ) of the fell, called ''Ráisduottarháldi'', is in Norway, on the border Nordreisa Municipality and Gáivuotna Municipality (Kåfjord), about north ...
(Lappi/Lapland and Norwegian
Troms Troms (; ; ; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. It borders Finnmark county to the northeast and Nordland county in the southwest. Norrbotten Län in Sweden is located to the south and further southeast is a shorter border with ...
) # 1,317 m (4,321 ft) Ridnitsohkka (Lappi/Lapland) # 1,280 m (4,200 ft) Kiedditsohkka (Lappi/Lapland) # 1,240 m (4,068 ft) Kovddoskaisi (Lappi/Lapland) # 1,239 m (4,065 ft) Ruvdnaoaivi (Lappi/Lapland) # 1,180 m (3,871 ft) Loassonibba (Lappi/Lapland) # 1,150 m (3,773 ft) Urtasvaara (Lappi/Lapland) # 1,144 m (3,753 ft) Kahperusvaarat (Lappi/Lapland) # 1,130 m (3,707 ft) Aldorassa (Lappi/Lapland) # 1,100 m (3,608 ft) Kieddoaivi (Lappi/Lapland)


See also

*
Dovrefjell Dovrefjell is a mountain range in Central Norway that forms a natural barrier between Eastern Norway and Trøndelag. The mountain range is located in Innlandet, Møre og Romsdal, and Trøndelag counties in Norway. As a result of its central loca ...
*
Jotunheimen Jotunheimen (; "the home of the Jötunn") is a mountainous area of roughly in southern Norway and is part of the long range known as the Scandinavian Mountains. The 29 highest mountains in Norway are all located in the Jotunheimen mountains, in ...
* '''' * '''' * ''''


Notes


References


External links

{{Authority control Mountain ranges of Europe Mountain ranges of Norway Mountain ranges of Finland Mountain ranges of Sweden Scandinavia