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The Sub-Mesozoic hilly peneplains
[ or Sub-Mesozoic hilly relief is a landscape in Scandinavia made up of undulating hills and joint valleys and occasional kaolinized bedrock in valley bottoms. The landscape formed in the Mesozoic Era and was eventually drowned by the sea during the ]Campanian
The Campanian is the fifth of six ages of the Late Cretaceous Epoch on the geologic timescale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). In chronostratigraphy, it is the fifth of six stages in the Upper Cretaceous Series. Campanian s ...
transgression and covered by a thick cover of Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...
sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...
s. Later erosion of the cover rocks partly re-exposed this landscape. During the Quaternary epoch the re-exposed Mesozoic hilly relief escaped major glacier erosion
Glacial landforms are landforms created by the action of glaciers. Most of today's glacial landforms were created by the movement of large ice sheets during the Quaternary glaciations. Some areas, like Fennoscandia and the southern Andes, hav ...
being only surficially scoured in parts.[
The Sub-Mesozoic hilly relief formed starting from a ]peneplain
390px, Sketch of a hypothetical peneplain formation after an orogeny.
In geomorphology and geology, a peneplain is a low-relief plain formed by protracted erosion. This is the definition in the broadest of terms, albeit with frequency the usage ...
formed in the Permian
The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleoz ...
and Triassic
The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...
. Remnants of this peneplain can be traced as a tilted summit accordance 300px, The highest of hills in this picture show fairly similar heights making up a summit accordance. Aerial photograph from the Altai region of Russia.
A summit accordance (sometimes also known by the German loan word gipfelflur) exists when hil ...
in the Swedish West Coast
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used ...
. This would indicated that Paleozoic strata that covered much of Fennoscandia elsewhere had been locally uplifted and eroded prior to the formation of the Sub-Mesozoic hilly relief.
The Sub-Mesozoic hilly peneplains covers a contiguous zone along western and southern rims of the South Swedish Dome. This zone includes most of Bohuslän
Bohuslän (; da, Bohuslen; no, Båhuslen) is a Swedish province in Götaland, on the northernmost part of the country's west coast. It is bordered by Dalsland to the northeast, Västergötland to the southeast, the Skagerrak arm of the North Sea ...
, Halland
Halland () is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap''), on the western coast of Götaland, southern Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Scania and the sea of Kattegat. Until 1645 and the Second Treaty of Brömsebro ...
and Blekinge
Blekinge (, old da, Bleking) is one of the traditional Swedish provinces (), situated in the southern coast of the geographic region of Götaland, in southern Sweden. It borders Småland, Scania and the Baltic Sea. It is the country's second ...
as well as parts of Västergötland
Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden.
Väs ...
and Scania
Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conte ...
. In parts this surface and unconformity makes up an undulating hilly relief, while in other locations like Blekinge and northern Halland it is an joint valley landscape
Joint valley landscape or fissure valley terrain ( sv, sprickdalslandskap, sprickdalsterräng) is a type of relief common in Fennoscandia. The landscape originates from the erosion of joints in the bedrock which leaves out small plateaus or ridge ...
. In Bohuslän the Mesozoic weathering
Weathering is the deterioration of rocks, soils and minerals as well as wood and artificial materials through contact with water, atmospheric gases, and biological organisms. Weathering occurs ''in situ'' (on site, with little or no movement), ...
associated with hilly relief is likely also responsible for creating the numerous small rock basins carved into Bohus granite
The Bohus granite ( sv, Bohusgranit) is a type of granite that crops out along the Swedish West Coast in Bohuslän. In Norway the same granites are termed Iddefjord granite ( no, Iddefjordsgranitt), Østfold granite and Halden granite. A large q ...
that characterize the coast.
References
{{Geology of Fennoscandia
Landforms of Blekinge County
Landforms of Halland County
Landforms of Skåne County
Landforms of Västra Götaland County
Mesozoic Europe
Plains of Norway
Plains of Sweden
Unconformities
Weathering landforms