On the Probably Glacial Origin of some Norwegian Lakes

Abstract

T he lakes to which attention is called are those so frequently found situated at a short distance from the head of a fjord on the western coast of Norway. The fjord and the valley in which such a lake lies are parts of one mighty chasm bounded by almost perpendicular mountains, which rise often thousands of feet from the water’s edge. The valley generally shows traces of the former existence of a glacier, and is now occupied by a rapid river. Instead of at once emptying itself into the fjord, this river falls into a lake, perhaps six or seven English miles long, but rarely a mile wide, and very deep. Between this lake and the fjord, there is a barrier consisting of rolled stones, shingle, and coarse sand, roughly stratified, through which an outfall has been cut to the fjord. The distances between some of these lakes and the fjord are subjoined, from which the mass of these deposits may be estimated The height of this barrier may be as much as 120 feet above the lake, in terraces one above the other. At the inner end of the lake a similar terraced deposit frequently occurs. This is the case at Vasenden, at the inner end of Gravens Vand, and at Sæbö at the inner end of Eidsfjord Vand, which one passes on the way from Vik to the Voring-foss. This latter lake is 1½ mile long and ½ mile wide, and, according to the peasants, 200 feet deep.