I. Recent Lines of Fracture in the Færoes in relation to the Theories of Fiord Formation

Abstract

I.—Introduction. The Færoes constitute an archipelago of twenty islands resulting from the disintegration of a remnant of the Atlantic Basalt Plateau. Previous geological visitors interested in the physiographic evolution of the archipelago have all related the production of the present group of fiord-riven islands solely to erosive agencies. In the course of a brief visit to the Færoes in the summer of 1925 the writer observed that these islands are traversed by a system of clearly visible, recent fracture-lines which are developing into V-shaped clefts and trenches of considerable size and extension. So clearly would a continuation of this process eventually result in a system of fiords and straits, disintegrating and indenting many of the present members of the archipelago, that one cannot resist the inference that the present system of straits and fiords has evolved by a similar process from a similar but older system of fractures. 1.—Geological Structure and Relations. Geologically the Færoes belong to the Kainozoic basaltic region known as the Thulean Province (1926, fig. 1). The islands are composed of a series of gently-dipping basalt-flows with subordinate intercalations of tuff; this volcanic series is intruded by basaltic sills and dykes. In Syderö and Myggenaes an horizon of carbonaceous sediments is intercalated in the basalt series. Acid lavas and intrusives, which are conspicuous in other parts of the Thulean province, are not represented in the Færoes; neither are breccia accumulations present there This 250-word extract was created in the absence of an abstract