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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 ari ...
that runs through the Scandinavian Peninsula. The western sides of the mountains drop precipitously into the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...
and Norwegian Sea, forming the fjords of Norway, whereas to the northeast they gradually curve towards
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...
. To the north they form the border between
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...
and
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...
, reaching high at the
Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at ...
. 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 in South Norway is the highest peak in mainland Northern Europe, at ; Kebnekaise is the highest peak on the Swedish side, at , whereas the slope of
Halti Halti ( fi, Halti, rarely Haltiatunturi, sme, Háldičohkka, sv, Haldefjäll) is a fell at the border between Norway and Finland. The peak (elevation ) of the fell, called ''Ráisduattarháldi'', is in Norway, on the border between the munici ...
is the highest point in Finland, at , although the peak of Halti is situated in Norway. The
Scandinavian Montane Birch forest and grasslands The Scandinavian montane birch forests and grasslands is defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as a terrestrial tundra ecoregion in Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Conservation value The Scandinavian montane birch forests and grasslands is on ...
terrestrial ecoregion is closely associated with the mountain range.


Names in Scandinavia

Its names in the Scandinavian languages are, in Swedish , (encyclopedic and professional usage), ('the Fells', common in colloquial speech) or ('the Keel'), and in Norwegian , , ('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, Hardangervidda, Jotunheimen, and Rondane.


Orography

The mountain chain's highest summits are mostly concentrated in an area (of
mean There are several kinds of mean in mathematics, especially in statistics. Each mean serves to summarize a given group of data, often to better understand the overall value ( magnitude and sign) of a given data set. For a data set, the '' ar ...
altitude of over 1,000 m) between
Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...
and
Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, an ...
in South Norway, with numerous peaks over 1,300 m and some peaks over 2,000 m. 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 the municipality of Ørland ...
, peaks decrease in altitude to about 400–500 m rising again to heights in excess of 1,900 m 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 at almost 2,500 m. This part of the mountain chain is also broader and contains a series of plateaux and gently undulating surfaces that hosts scattered inselbergs. 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 and Jotunheimen 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 or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Icel ...
s and
valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain 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 ove ...
s. The mountain chain is present in Sweden from northern Dalarna 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 glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from Scottish Gaelic , meaning a pot or cauldron) and (; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landf ...
s in southern Norway that can be found both near sea level and at 2,000 m. Most cirques are found between 1,000 and 1,500 m. To the east, the Scandinavian Mountains proper bounds with mountains that are lower and less dissected and are known in Swedish as the (literally 'fore-fell'). Generally the do not surpass 1,000 m above sea level. As a geomorphic unit the extends across Sweden as a 650 km long and 40 to 80 km broad belt from Dalarna in the south to
Norrbotten Norrbotten (), known in English as 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 ...
in the north. While lower than the Scandinavian Mountains proper, the '''s'' pronounced
relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
, 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 h ...
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 water bodies (such as oceans and large lakes) is ca ...
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 oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
has caused the formation of many ice fields and
glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such a ...
s. In the mountains, the air temperature decreases with increasing altitude, and patches of mountain
permafrost Permafrost is ground that continuously remains below 0 °C (32 °F) for two or more years, located on land or under the ocean. Most common in the Northern Hemisphere, around 15% of the Northern Hemisphere or 11% of the global surface ...
in regions with a mean annual air temperature (MAAT) of -1.5 °C 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, continuous permafrost at altitudes with a MAAT of -6.0 °C. Within the EU-sponsored project PACE (Permafrost and Climate in Europe), a 100 m deep borehole was drilled in bedrock above Tarfala research station at an altitude of 1540 m above sea level. The stable ground temperature at a depth of 100 meters is still -2.75 °C. The measured geothermal gradient in the drillhole of 1.17 °C /100 m allows to extrapolate a permafrost thickness of 330 meters, 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 1700 meters in the west of southern Norway to 1500 meters near the border with Sweden, and from 1600 m in northern Norway to 1100 m in northern, more continental Sweden ( Kebnekaise 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 under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...
. Thus the snow line, or glacier equilibrium line as the limit between the accumulation zone and ablation zone shows the opposite trend, from 1500 meters in the west ( Jostefonn) to 2100 meters in the east ( Jotunheimen).


Geology


Bedrock

Most of the rocks of the Scandinavian Mountains are Caledonian, which means they were put in place by the Caledonian orogeny. Caledonian rocks overlie rocks of the much older Svecokarelian and Sveconorwegian provinces. The Caledonian rocks actually form large nappes ( sv, skollor) 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 group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for se ...
of
Precambrian The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, 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 th ...
rock. While there are some disagreements, geologists generally recognize four units among the nappes: an uppermost, an upper, a middle and a lower unit. The lower unit is made up Ediacaran (
Vendian The Ediacaran Period ( ) is a geological period that spans 96 million years from the end of the Cryogenian Period 635 million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Cambrian Period 538.8 Mya. It marks the end of the Proterozoic Eon, and th ...
),
Cambrian The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million years ago ...
, Ordovician and
Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 24.6 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 shortest period of the Paleoz ...
-aged
sedimentary rocks 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 particle ...
. 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 or projectiles such as arrows, by means of ...
rocks are in some places also incorporated into the lower nappes. It was during the Silurian and
Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, wh ...
periods that the Caledonian nappes were stacked upon the older rocks and upon themselves. This occurred in connection to the closure of the Iapetus Ocean as the ancient continents of
Laurentia Laurentia or the North American Craton is a large continental craton that forms the 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 North America, althoug ...
and Baltica 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 planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...
s-sized mountain range named the
Caledonian Mountains The Caledonian orogeny was a mountain-building era recorded in the northern parts of the British Isles, the Scandinavian Mountains, Svalbard, eastern Greenland and parts of north-central Europe. The Caledonian orogeny encompasses events that occ ...
roughly over the same area as the present-day Scandinavian Mountains. The Caledonian Mountains began a post-orogenic collapse 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 A continental margin is the outer edge of continental crust abutting oceanic crust under coastal waters. It is one of the three major zones of the ocean floor, the other two being deep-ocean basins and mid-ocean ridges. The 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 oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe a ...
in
Eastern Greenland Tunu, originally Østgrønland ("East Greenland"), was one of the three counties (''amter'') of Greenland until 31 December 2008. The county seat was at the main settlement, Tasiilaq. The county's population in 2005 was around 3,800. The coun ...
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, that runs rough ...
. The Scandinavian Mountains attained its height by tectonic processes different from orogeny, chiefly in the
Cenozoic The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configu ...
. A two-stage model of uplift has been proposed for the Scandinavian Mountains in South Norway. A first stage in the
Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretace ...
and a second stage starting from the
Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but t ...
. 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 Cambria ...
which forms part of what is known as the Paleic surface in Norway. 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 the
Paleogene The Paleogene ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning o ...
. For example, the Hardangervidda uplifted from sea level to its present 1200–1100 m in
Early Pliocene Early may refer to: History * The beginning or oldest part of a defined historical period, as opposed to middle or late periods, e.g.: ** Early Christianity ** Early modern Europe Places in the United States * Early, Iowa * Early, Texas * ...
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 The Muddus plains is a landscape type in northern Sweden characterized by its flat topography dotted with inselbergs. The topographic character of the Muddus plains was first described in detail by Walter Wråk in 1908. The Muddus plains are part ...
landscape of northern Sweden. 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, and the uplift of the mountains. Unlike orogenic mountains, there is no widely accepted geophysical 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. 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 500 m. Other geoscientists have implied
diapir A diapir (; , ) is a type of igneous intrusion in which a more mobile and ductily deformable material is forced into brittle overlying rocks. Depending on the tectonic environment, diapirs can range from idealized mushroom-shaped Rayleigh–T ...
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 ~ below the surface, and extends as deep as . However, the lower boundary of the asthenosphere is ...
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 when Greenland and Scandinavia rifted apart about 53 million years ago.


Quaternary geology

Many slopes and valleys are straight because they follow tectonic
fractures Fracture is the separation of an object or material into two or more pieces under the action of stress. The fracture of a solid usually occurs due to the development of certain displacement discontinuity surfaces within the solid. If a displ ...
that are more prone to erosion. Another result of tectonics in the relief is that slopes corresponding to footwalls 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 singl ...
between the Norwegian Sea 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 water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is dist ...
. The mountain chain is dotted with glacial
cirque A (; from the Latin word ') is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from Scottish Gaelic , meaning a pot or cauldron) and (; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landf ...
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 An ice stream is a region of fast-moving ice within an ice sheet. It is a type of glacier, a body of ice that moves under its own weight. They can move upwards of a year, and can be up to in width, and hundreds of kilometers in length. They t ...
. At some locations coalesced cirques form arêtes 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 ...
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 nunataks in the glacial periods or by being protected from erosion under cold-based glacier ice. Karst systems, with their characteristic
cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...
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 locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...
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 blankets,
moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris ( regolith and 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 glacier or ice sh ...
s,
drumlin A drumlin, from the Irish word ''droimnín'' ("littlest 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 ...
s and glaciofluvial material in the form of outwash plains and eskers. 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. The Cenozoic glaciations that affected
Fennoscandia __NOTOC__ Fennoscandia ( Finnish, Swedish and no, Fennoskandia, nocat=1; russian: Фенноскандия, Fennoskandiya) or the Fennoscandian Peninsula is the geographical peninsula in Europe, which includes the Scandinavian and Kola penin ...
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 area (usually covering a highland area). Larger ice masses covering more than are termed ice sheets. Description Ice caps are not constrained by topographical features ...
and ice fields. The ice fields from which the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet grew out multiple times most likely resembled today's ice fields in Andean Patagonia. During the
last glacial maximum The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), also referred to as the Late Glacial Maximum, was the most recent time during the Last Glacial Period that ice sheets were at their greatest extent. Ice sheets covered much of Northern North America, Northern Eu ...
(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 known as the former Soviet Union (FSU), the former Soviet Republics and in Russia as the near abroad (russian: links=no, ближнее зарубежье, blizhneye zarubezhye), are the 15 sovereign states that wer ...
. 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 lagged behind as the ice mass concentrated in the west.


Highest mountains


Norway

Of the 10 highest mountain peaks in Scandinavia ( prominence greater than ), six are situated in Oppland, Norway. The other four are situated in Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. # Galdhøpiggen (
Innlandet Innlandet is a county in Norway. It was created on 1 January 2020 with the merger of the old counties of Oppland and Hedmark (the municipalities of Jevnaker and Lunner were transferred to the neighboring county of Viken on the same date). ...
) # Glittertind (Innlandet) #
Store Skagastølstind Store Skagastølstind (also known as Storen) is the third highest peak in Norway. It is situated on the border between the municipality of Luster and Årdal in Vestland county, Norway. The mountain is part of the Hurrungane range. The mounta ...
(
Vestland Vestland is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the cit ...
) # Store Styggedalstinden east (Vestland) # Skarstind (Innlandet) # Vesle Galdhøpiggen (Innlandet) # Surtningssue (Innlandet) #
Store Memurutinden Store Memurutinden is the 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 Park. The mountain sits about south of ...
(Innlandet) # Jervvasstind (Vestland) # Sentraltind (Vestland) Image:GaldhøpiggenFromFannaråki.jpg, Galdhøpiggen seen from west, Norway's highest mountain Image:Glittertind1999.jpg, Glittertind Image:Falketind.jpg, Falketind in Jotunheimen Image:Abisko alps.JPG, Landscape between
Abisko National Park Abisko National Park ( sv, Abisko nationalpark) is a National Park in Sweden, established in 1909. Geography Abisko is situated in the Swedish province of Lapland near the Norwegian border (distance approx. by railway), and belongs to ...
and Kebnekaise


Sweden

There are 12 peaks in
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...
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. All mountain names are in Sami but with the more common Swedish spelling of it. # Kebnekaise ( Lappland) – Note: Altitude includes the peak glacier. If melting continues, Kebnekaise Nordtoppen, just 500 meters away, might become the highest point. # Kebnekaise Nordtoppen (Lappland) – the highest fixed point in Sweden. # Sarektjåkkå Stortoppen (Lappland) # Kaskasatjåkka (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 1,860 m (Lappland) * Helagsfjället 1,796 m ( Härjedalen) * Norra Storfjället 1,767 m (Lappland) * Templet 1,728 m (
Jämtland Jämtland (; no, Jemtland or , ; Jamtish: ''Jamtlann''; la, Iemptia) is a historical province () in the centre of Sweden in northern Europe. It borders Härjedalen and Medelpad to the south, Ångermanland to the east, Lapland to the nort ...
) * Lillsylen 1,704 m (Jämtland) *
Åreskutan Åreskutan is a mountain at Åre in Jämtland in central Sweden. It is one of the better-known mountains in Sweden. The mountain (and the village of Åre itself) is easily accessible by train. The mountain massif features the largest ski resor ...
1,420 m (Jämtland) * Storvätteshågna 1,204 m ( Dalarna) * Nipfjället 1,191 m (Dalarna) * Städjan 1,131 m (Dalarna)


Finland

# 1,324 m (4,344 ft)
Halti Halti ( fi, Halti, rarely Haltiatunturi, sme, Háldičohkka, sv, Haldefjäll) is a fell at the border between Norway and Finland. The peak (elevation ) of the fell, called ''Ráisduattarháldi'', is in Norway, on the border between the munici ...
(Lappi/Lapland and Norwegian Troms) # 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 * Jotunheimen


Notes


References


External links

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