Structural geomorphology and morphological development in the Lofoten–Vesterålen area, Norway

Abstract

Peulvast, J. P. 1986. Structural geomorphology and morphological development in the Lofoten–Vesteralen area, Norway. Norsk geogr. Tidsskr. Vol. 40, 135–161. Oslo. ISSN 0029–1951. The Lofoten–Vesteralen area is mainly developed in a system of horsts of weakly caledonized Precambrian rocks, north of the Polar Circle. The respective influences of lithology and Mesozoic and Tertiary tectonics on the differentiation of the three main morphostructural types (jagged migmatitic or mangeritic mountains, heavy monzonitic or gabbroic plateaus, systems of ridges and corridors developed in gneisses and intrusive rocks more or less modified by the Sveconorwegian metamorphism) are analysed. Differential erosion appears to have been a prevalent process in the morphological development. Through the main types of landscapes, the meaning of the minor features is discussed respectively in bare rock areas, in areas covered with saprolites and in strandflat areas. This is the basis for a tentative reconstruction of the morphot...