Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Facts on Fjords
The process that created the majestic Sognefjord began during an ice age
about three million years ago. A glacier up to 6,500 feet thick slid down-
hill at an inch an hour, following a former river valley on its way to the
sea. Rocks embedded in the glacier gouged out a steep, U-shaped valley,
displacing enough rock material to form a mountain 13 miles high. When
the climate warmed up, the ice age came to an end. The melting glaciers
retreated and the sea level rose nearly 300 feet, flooding the valley now
known as the Sognefjord. The fjord is more than a mile deep, flanked
by 3,000-foot mountains—for a total relief of 9,300 feet. Waterfalls spill
down the cliffs, fed by runoff from today's glaciers. Powdery sediment
tinges the fjords a cloudy green, the distinct color of glacier melt.
Why are there fjords on the west coast of Norway, but not, for instance,
on the east coast of Sweden? The creation of a fjord requires a setting of
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