Scandinavian Mountains

Names in Scandinavia

Its names in the Scandinavian languages are, in Swedish Skandinaviska fjällkedjan, Skanderna (encyclopaedic and professional usage), Fjällen ("The Fells", common in colloquial speech) or Kölen ("The Keel"), and in Norwegian Den skandinaviske fjellkjede,Skandesfjellene, Kjølen ("The Keel") or Nordryggen ("The North Ridge", name coined in 2013). The names Kölen and Kjølen are often preferentially used for the northern part, where the mountains form a narrow range near the border region of Norway and Sweden. In southern 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 altitude of over 1000 m) between Stavanger and Trondheim in southern Norway, with numerous peaks over 1300 m and some peaks over 2000 m. Around Trondheim Fjord peaks decrease in altitude to about 400–500 m rising again to heights in excess of 1900 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 2500 m. This part of the mountain chain is also broader and contains a series of plateaux and gently undulating surfaces that hosts scattered inselbergs. In south-western Norway the plateaux and gently undulating surfaces are strongly dissected by fjords and valleys. 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 it does have it does relate to altitude.

To the east the Scandinavian Mountains proper bounds with mountains that are lower and less dissected and are known as the förfjäll (literally "fore-fell"). While lower than the Scandinavian Mountains proper, the förfjäll's more pronounced relief, its often larger number of plateaux and its coherent valley systems distinguish it from so-called undulating hilly terrain (bergkullsterräng) and plains with residual hills (bergkullslätt) found further east. Generally the förfjäll do not surpass 1000 m.a.s.l. As a geomorphic unit the förfjäll extends across Sweden as a 650 km long and 40 to 80 km broad belt from Dalarna in the south to Norrbotten in the north.

Origin of the mountains

The origin of today's mountain topography is debated by geologists. During the Paleozoic, a continental collision between Scandinavia (then part of Baltica) and Greenland (then part of Laurentia) produced a Himalayas-sized mountain range named the Caledonian Mountains roughly over the same area as the present-day Scandinavian Mountains. In Scandinavia the Caledonian Mountains begun 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.

Geologically, the Scandivian Mountains are an elevated, passive continental margin similar to the mountains and plateaux found on the opposite side of the North Atlantic in Eastern Greenland or in Australia's Great Dividing Range. The Scandinavian Mountains attained its height by tectonic processes different from orogeny, chiefly in the Cenozoic. A two-stage model of uplift has been proposed for the Scandinavian Mountains in southern Norway. A first stage in the Mesozoic and a second stage starting from the Oligocene. The uplift of southern Norway has elevated the westernmost extension of the sub-Cambrian peneplain which forms part of what is known as the Paleic surface in Norway. In southern 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 uplift in the north tilted the landsurface to the east, as reflected in the Muddus plains landscape.

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. Some 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. Others geoscientists have implied diapirism in the asthenosphere as being the cause of uplift. One hypothesis claim 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 have straight courses due to the fact that they follow tectonic fractures that are more prone to erosion. Another result of tectonics in the relief is that slopes corresponding to footwalls of normal faults tend to be straight.

There is evidence that the drainage divide 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 in excess of 50 km. Much of the Scandinavian Mountains has been sculpted by glacal erosion. The mountain chain is dotted with glacial cirques usually separated from each other by pre-glacial surfaces. At some locations coalesced cirques form arêtes and pyramidal peaks. 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 blockfields which escaped glacial erosion either by having constituted nunataks in the glacial periods or by being protected from erosion under cold-based glacier ice. Karst systems, with their characteristic caves and sinkholes occur at various locations 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 times.

Much of the mountain range is mantled by deposits of glacial origin including till blankets, moraines, drumlins and glacifluvial 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.

Norway

Of the 10 highest mountain peaks in Scandinavia (prominence greater than 30 m or 98 ft), six are situated in Oppland, Norway. The other four are situated in Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. There are 83 peaks equal to or taller than 2,200 m (7,218 ft) in Norway.

1. 2,469 m (8,100 ft) Galdhøpiggen (Oppland)
2. 2,465 m (8,087 ft) Glittertind (Oppland)
3. 2,405 m (7,890 ft) Store Skagastølstind (Sogn og Fjordane)
4. 2,387 m (7,831 ft) Store Styggedalstinden east (Sogn og Fjordane)
5. 2,373 m (7,785 ft) Skarstind (Oppland)
6. 2,369 m (7,772 ft) Vesle Galdhøpiggen (Oppland)
7. 2,368 m (7,769 ft) Surtningssue (Oppland)
8. 2,366 m (7,762 ft) Store Memurutinden (Oppland)
9. 2,351 m (7,713 ft) Jervvasstind (Sogn og Fjordane)
10. 2,348 m (7,703 ft) Sentraltind (Sogn og Fjordane)

Sweden

There are 12 peaks in Sweden that reach above 2,000 m high (6,600 ft), or 13 depending on how the peaks are defined. This list is defined according to UIAA. 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.

1. 2,104 m (6,903 ft) Kebnekaise (Lappland) - Note: Altitude includes the peak glacier. If melting continues, Kebnekaise Nordtoppen, just 500 meters away, might become the highest point.
2. 2,097 m (6,880 ft) Kebnekaise Nordtoppen (Lappland) - the highest fixed point in Sweden.
3. 2,089 m (6,854 ft) Sarektjåkkå Stortoppen (Lappland)
4. 2,076 m (6,811 ft) Kaskasatjåkka (Lappland)
5. 2,056 m (6,745 ft) Sarektjåkkå Nordtoppen (Lappland)
6. 2,043 m (6,703 ft) Kaskasapakte (Lappland)
7. 2,023 m (6,637 ft) Sarektjåkkå Sydtoppen (Lappland)
8. 2,016 m (6,614 ft) Akka Stortoppen (Lappland)
9. 2,010 m (6,594 ft) Akka Nordvästtoppen (Lappland)
10. 2,010 m (6,594 ft) Sarektjåkkå Buchttoppen (Lappland)
11. 2,005 m (6,578 ft) Pårtetjåkka (Lappland)
12. 2,002 m (6,568 ft) Palkatjåkka (Lappland)

Other popular mountains for skiers, climbers and hikers in Sweden

Finland

1. 1,324 m (4,344 ft) Halti (Lappi/Lappland and Norwegian Troms)
2. 1,317 m (4,321 ft) Ridnitsohkka (Lappi/Lappland)
3. 1,280 m (4,200 ft) Kiedditsohkka (Lappi/Lappland)
4. 1,240 m (4,068 ft) Kovddoskaisi (Lappi/Lappland)
5. 1,239 m (4,065 ft) Ruvdnaoaivi (Lappi/Lappland)
6. 1,180 m (3,871 ft) Loassonibba (Lappi/Lappland)
7. 1,150 m (3,773 ft) Urtasvaara (Lappi/Lappland)
8. 1,144 m (3,753 ft) Kahperusvaarat (Lappi/Lappland)
9. 1,130 m (3,707 ft) Aldorassa (Lappi/Lappland)
10. 1,100 m (3,608 ft) Kieddoaivi (Lappi/Lappland)

As of July 2016, to mark the centenary of Finland's independence in 2017, the government of Norway is considering adjusting Norway's border with Finland in the Halti area, giving Finland a 1,331 m peak (one of the two peaks of Halti), which would become Finland's highest point.

The highest independent prominence in Finland is Taivaskero (807 m high) in Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park.