1.
Summit
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A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. Mathematically, a summit is a maximum in elevation. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak, and zenith are synonymous, the UIAA definition is that a summit is independent if it has a prominence of 30 metres or more, it is a mountain if it has a prominence of at least 300 metres. This can be summarised as follows, A pyramidal peak is an exaggerated form produced by ice erosion of a mountain top, Summit may also refer to the highest point along a line, trail, or route. In many parts of the western United States, the term refers to the highest point along a road, highway. For example, the highest point along Interstate 80 in California is referred to as Donner Summit while the highest point on Interstate 5 is Siskiyou Mountain Summit, geoid Hill List of highest mountains Maxima and minima Nadir Summit accordance Peak finder
2.
Topographic prominence
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It is a measure of the independence of a summit. A peaks key col is a point on this contour line. By convention, the prominence of Mount Everest, the Earths highest mountain, is taken to equal the elevation of its summit above sea level, if the peaks prominence is P metres, to get from the summit to any higher terrain one must descend at least P metres. Together with the convention for Mount Everest, this implies that the prominence of any island or continental highpoint is equal to its elevation above sea level, for every ridge connecting the peak to higher terrain, find the lowest point on the ridge. The key col is defined as the highest of these cols, the prominence is the difference between the elevation of the peak and the elevation of the key col. The following mental exercise may illustrate the meaning of topographic prominence, imagine you are standing at the top of a peak and imagine that an imaginary sea level rises to your feet. Now slowly lower the sea level and an imaginary island appears beneath your feet. Your island will grow and will merge with other islands that emerge, the parent peak may be either close or far from the subject peak. The summit of Mount Everest is the parent peak of Aconcagua at a distance of 17,755 km, the key col may also be close or far from the subject peak. The key col for Aconcagua is the Bering Strait at a distance of 13,655 km, the key col for the South Summit of Mount Everest is about 100 m distant. Prominence is interesting to many mountaineers because it is a measurement that is strongly correlated with the subjective significance of a summit. Peaks with low prominences are either subsidiary tops of some higher summit or relatively insignificant independent summits, peaks with high prominences tend to be the highest points around and are likely to have extraordinary views. Only summits with a sufficient degree of prominence are regarded as independent mountains, for example, the worlds second-highest mountain is K2. While Mount Everests South Summit is taller than K2, it is not considered an independent mountain because it is a subsummit of the main summit, many lists of mountains take topographic prominence as a criterion for inclusion, or cutoff. John and Anne Nuttalls The Mountains of England and Wales uses a cutoff of 15 m, in the contiguous United States, the famous list of fourteeners uses a cutoff of 300 ft /91 m. Also in the U. S.2000 feet of prominence has become a threshold that signifies that a peak has major stature. This generates lists of peaks ranked by prominence, which are different from lists ranked by elevation. Such lists tend to emphasize isolated high peaks, such as range or island high points, one advantage of a prominence-ranked list is that it needs no cutoff, since a peak with high prominence is automatically an independent peak
3.
Topographic isolation
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The topographic isolation of a summit is the minimum great-circle distance to a point of equal elevation, representing a radius of dominance in which the peak is the highest point. It can be calculated for small hills and islands as well as for major mountain peaks, the following sortable table lists the Earths 40 most topographically isolated summits. The nearest peak to Germanys highest mountain, the 2, 962-metre-high Zugspitze, the distance between the Zugspitze and this contour is 25.8 km, the Zugspitze is thus the highest peak for a radius of 25.8 km around. Its isolation is thus 25.8 km, because there are no higher mountains than Mount Everest, it has no definitive isolation. Many sources list its isolation as the circumference of the earth over the poles or – questionably, after Mount Everest the Aconcagua, highest mountain of the American continents, has the greatest isolation of all mountains. There is no land for 16,534 kilometres when its height is first exceeded by Tirich Mir in the Hindu Kush. Mont Blanc is the highest mountain of the Alps, the geographically nearest higher mountains are all in the Caucasus. The Kukurtlu, which rises near the Elbrus, is the peak for Mont Blanc. com Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia peakbagger. com peaklist. org peakware. com World Mountain Encyclopedia summitpost. org
4.
Ultra-prominent peak
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An ultra-prominent peak, or Ultra for short, is defined as a mountain summit with a topographic prominence of 1,500 metres or more. There are approximately 1,524 such peaks on Earth, some peaks, such as the Matterhorn and Eiger, are not Ultras because they are connected to higher mountains by high cols and therefore do not achieve enough topographic prominence. The term Ultra is due to earth scientist Stephen Fry, from his studies of the prominence of peaks in Washington in the 1980s and his original term was ultra major mountain, referring to peaks with at least 5,000 ft of prominence. Currently,1,515 Ultras have been identified worldwide,637 in Asia,355 in North America,209 in South America,119 in Europe,84 in Africa,69 in Australasia and 39 in Antarctica. Many of the worlds largest mountains are Ultras, including Mount Everest, K2, Kilimanjaro, Mont Blanc, on the other hand, others such as the Eiger and the Matterhorn are not Ultras because they do not have sufficient prominence. In British Columbia, some of the mountains listed do not even have generally recognized names, a number of Ultras have yet to be climbed, with Sauyr Zhotasy, Mount Siple, and Gangkar Puensum being the most likely candidates for the most prominent unclimbed mountain in the world. All of the Seven Summits are Ultras by virtue of the fact that they are the points of large landmasses. Each has its key col at or near sea level, resulting in a value almost equal to its elevation. List of peaks by prominence gives the 125 most prominent peaks worldwide
5.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
6.
Lom, Norway
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Lom is a municipality in Oppland county, Norway. It is part of the region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Fossbergom, the municipality of Lom was established on 1 January 1838. The area of Skjåk was separated from Lom to become a municipality of its own in 1866, Lom is famous for its extensive history, for having one of the few remaining stave churches in Norway, and for lying in the midst of the highest mountains in Northern Europe. The Old Norse forms of the name was Lóar and Lóm, the name is the plural form of ló which means meadow. The coat-of-arms is from modern times and they were granted on 6 February 1987. The arms show three silver-colored skjeltrekor on a blue background and these spades were historically used to scoop water from the irrigation channels typical for the area. The area is one of the driest in Norway, but the soil is good for agriculture, in the 17th century, a system was developed in which melting water from the mountains was transported to the area using wooden channels or aqueducts. The water was divided using irrigation channels. An ancient trade route passed up from Sunnmøre through Lom and Skjåk, the trade consisted of fish and salt heading inland, and grain heading to the coast. The Saga of Olaf Haraldson relates that St. Olaf commented as he first looked down on Lom, “What a pity to have to lay waste to such a beautiful valley. ”In the face of such a motivation, the residents of the valley converted St. Olafs-stuggu. The building is part of the Presthaugen District Museum, Lom stave church, which is located at Lom center, is believed to have been built in 1158, making 2008 the 850th anniversary. It was extended in 1634, with addition of two naves in 1667. It is believed that the church was surrounded by a circumambulatory passage, like many other Norwegian stave churches. A few Runic inscriptions can be still be seen in the church, the church also contains numerous paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries with religious motifs. Many of the paintings were made by local artist Eggert Munch, the church also contains numerous examples of local woodcarving, as seen in the elaborate acanthus scrolls adorning the pulpit. Carved dragon figures on the roof are old symbols of protection against evil and it is still in use as the local church. The Garmo stave church, which was built around 1150, has relocated from Lom municipality and is now at Maihaugen in Lillehammer
7.
Oppland
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Oppland is a county in Norway, bordering Sør-Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The county administration is in Lillehammer, Oppland is, together with Hedmark, one of the only two landlocked counties of Norway. Innlandet is one of several names proposed for an administrative region consisting of Hedmark. The two counties are slated to be re-merged after having split in 1781. Historically, the region was known as Opplandene. Oppland extends from the lakes Mjøsa and Randsfjorden to the mountains Dovrefjell, Jotunheimen, the county is conventionally divided into traditional districts. These are the Gudbrandsdalen, Valdres, Toten, Hadeland and Land, Oppland includes the towns Lillehammer, Gjøvik, Otta, and Fagernes, and Norways two highest mountains, Glittertind and Galdhøpiggen, Valdres and the Gudbrand Valley being popular attractions. The Gudbrand Valley surrounds the river Gudbrandsdalslågen, and includes the udes the area extending from Jotunheimen down to Bagn at Begna River and it is a well known place for skiing and winter sports. The main population centres in this area are Beitostølen and Fagernes, eight of the ten highest mountains in Norway are located in the western part of Oppland. In Norse times the inner parts of Norway were called Upplǫnd the upper countries, the first element is upp upper. The last element is lǫnd, the form of land. In 1757 the inner parts of the great Akershus amt were separated and this was divided in 1781 into Christians Amt and Hedemarkens Amt. The name/form was changed to Kristians Amt in 1877, in 1919 the name Kristians Amt was changed to Opland fylke, and the form Oppland was settled in 1950. The coat of arms were granted in 1989, and it shows two Pulsatilla vernalis, Oppland County has a total of 26 municipalities, Media related to Oppland at Wikimedia Commons Oppland travel guide from Wikivoyage
8.
Norway
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The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the Kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land, until 1814, the kingdom included the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. It also included Isle of Man until 1266, Shetland and Orkney until 1468, Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometres and a population of 5,258,317. The country shares a long border with Sweden. Norway is bordered by Finland and Russia to the north-east, Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. King Harald V of the Dano-German House of Glücksburg is the current King of Norway, erna Solberg became Prime Minister in 2013, replacing Jens Stoltenberg. A constitutional monarchy, Norway divides state power between the Parliament, the Cabinet and the Supreme Court, as determined by the 1814 Constitution, the kingdom is established as a merger of several petty kingdoms. By the traditional count from the year 872, the kingdom has existed continuously for 1,144 years, Norway has both administrative and political subdivisions on two levels, counties and municipalities. The Sámi people have an amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sámi Parliament. Norway maintains close ties with the European Union and the United States, the country maintains a combination of market economy and a Nordic welfare model with universal health care and a comprehensive social security system. Norway has extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, the petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the countrys gross domestic product. On a per-capita basis, Norway is the worlds largest producer of oil, the country has the fourth-highest per capita income in the world on the World Bank and IMF lists. On the CIAs GDP per capita list which includes territories and some regions, from 2001 to 2006, and then again from 2009 to 2017, Norway had the highest Human Development Index ranking in the world. It also has the highest inequality-adjusted ranking, Norway ranks first on the World Happiness Report, the OECD Better Life Index, the Index of Public Integrity and the Democracy Index. Norway has two names, Noreg in Nynorsk and Norge in Bokmål. The name Norway comes from the Old English word Norðrveg mentioned in 880, meaning way or way leading to the north. In contrasting with suðrvegar southern way for Germany, and austrvegr eastern way for the Baltic, the Anglo-Saxon of Britain also referred to the kingdom of Norway in 880 as Norðmanna land. This was the area of Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway, and because of him
9.
Mountain range
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A mountain range is a geographic area containing numerous geologically related mountains. A mountain system or system of ranges, sometimes is used to combine several geological features that are geographically related. Mountain ranges are usually segmented by highlands or mountain passes and valleys, individual mountains within the same mountain range do not necessarily have the same geologic structure or petrology. They may be a mix of different orogenic expressions and terranes, for example thrust sheets, uplifted blocks, fold mountains, most geologically young mountain ranges on the Earths land surface are associated with either the Pacific Ring of Fire or the Alpide Belt. The Andes is 7,000 kilometres long and is considered the worlds longest mountain system. The Alpide belt includes Indonesia and southeast Asia, through the Himalaya, the belt also includes other European and Asian mountain ranges. The Himalayas contain the highest mountains in the world, including Mount Everest, mountain ranges outside of these two systems include the Arctic Cordillera, the Urals, the Appalachians, the Scandinavian Mountains, the Altai Mountains and the Hijaz Mountains. If the definition of a range is stretched to include underwater mountains. The mountain systems of the earth are characterized by a tree structure, the sub-range relationship is often expressed as a parent-child relationship. For example, the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the Blue Ridge Mountains are sub-ranges of the Appalachian Mountains, equivalently, the Appalachians are the parent of the White Mountains and Blue Ridge Mountains, and the White Mountains and the Blue Ridge Mountains are children of the Appalachians. The position of mountains influences climate, such as rain or snow, when air masses move up and over mountains, the air cools producing orographic precipitation. As the air descends on the side, it warms again and is drier. Often, a shadow will affect the leeward side of a range. Mountain ranges are constantly subjected to forces which work to tear them down. Erosion is at work while the mountains are being uplifted and long after until the mountains are reduced to low hills, rivers are traditionally believed to be the principle erosive factor on mountain ranges, with their ability of bedrock incision and sediment transport. The rugged topography of a range is the product of erosion. The basins adjacent to a mountain range are filled with sediments which are buried and turned into sedimentary rock. The early Cenozoic uplift of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado provides an example and this mass of rock was removed as the range was actively undergoing uplift
10.
Jotunheimen
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Jotunheimen is a mountainous area of roughly 3,500 km² in southern Norway and is part of the long range known as the Scandinavian Mountains. The 29 highest mountains in Norway are all in Jotunheimen, including the very highest - Galdhøpiggen, Jotunheimen straddles the border between the counties of Oppland and Sogn og Fjordane. Jotunheimen contains Jotunheimen National Park, which was established in 1980, the Hurrungane mountain range is also inside the national park with the sharpest peaks in Jotunheimen. Adjacent to the park border is Utladalen Nature Reserve which covers the Utladalen valley. The image from Gjende shows a cliff trailing down into the lake, at its base there is a popular guest house called Memurubu. The picture is taken from Gjendesheim, a point for hiking into the mountain range. There is a popular trail along Besseggen that follows the edge of the mountainous range to the right. There is a National Tourist Route, the Sognefjell Road, from Skjolden to Lom and another road and this was later changed to Jotunheimen by the poet Aasmund Olavsson Vinje in 1862 - this name/form was directly inspired by the name Jötunheimr in Norse mythology. The Jotunheimen shoe was discovered in August 2006, archaeologists estimate that the leather shoe was made between 1800 and 1100 BCE, making it the oldest article of clothing discovered in Scandinavia. It was discovered along with several arrows and a wooden spade, eidsbugarden Prinsehytta Tourism in Norway Bjørn G. Andersen Jens Esmark Jotunheimen website Tilltopps - Hiking in Jotunheimen. Photos of Jotunheimen Map Sognefjell Road Jotunheimen in pictures The Jotunheimen Mountains - the official guide to Norway
11.
Topographic map
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Traditional definitions require a topographic map to show both natural and man-made features. A topographic map is published as a map series, made up of two or more map sheets that combine to form the whole map. A contour line is a line connecting places of equal elevation, however, in the vernacular and day to day world, the representation of relief is popularly held to define the genre, such that even small-scale maps showing relief are commonly called topographic. The study or discipline of topography is a broader field of study. Topographic maps are based on topographical surveys, performed at large scales, these surveys are called topographical in the old sense of topography, showing a variety of elevations and landforms. This is in contrast to older cadastral surveys, which primarily show property, the first multi-sheet topographic map series of an entire country, the Carte géométrique de la France, was completed in 1789. Topographic surveys were prepared by the military to assist in planning for battle, as such, elevation information was of vital importance. As they evolved, topographic map series became a resource in modern nations in planning infrastructure. Excluding borders, each sheet was 44 cm high and up to 66 cm wide, although the project eventually foundered, it left an indexing system that remains in use. TIGER was developed in the 1980s and used in the 1990, digital elevation models were also compiled, initially from topographic maps and stereographic interpretation of aerial photographs and then from satellite photography and radar data. Since all these were government projects funded with taxes and not classified for security reasons. Initial applications were mostly professionalized forms such as innovative surveying instruments, by the mid-1990s, increasingly user-friendly resources such as online mapping in two and three dimensions, integration of GPS with mobile phones and automotive navigation systems appeared. As of 2011, the future of standardized, centrally printed topographical maps is left somewhat in doubt, the various features shown on the map are represented by conventional signs or symbols. For example, colors can be used to indicate a classification of roads and these signs are usually explained in the margin of the map, or on a separately published characteristic sheet. Topographic maps are commonly called contour maps or topo maps. In the United States, where the national series is organized by a strict 7. 5-minute grid. Topographic maps conventionally show topography, or land contours, by means of contour lines, contour lines are curves that connect contiguous points of the same altitude. In other words, every point on the line of 100 m elevation is 100 m above mean sea level
12.
First ascent
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In climbing, a first ascent is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain, or the first to follow a particular climbing route. First ascents are notable because they entail genuine exploration, with risks, challenges. The person who performs the first ascent is called the first ascensionist, the details of the first ascents of even many prominent mountains are scanty or unknown, sometimes the only evidence of prior summiting is a cairn, artifacts, or inscriptions at the top. Today, first ascents are generally recorded and usually mentioned in guidebooks. Overwhelmingly, the idea of a first ascent is a one, especially in places such as Africa. There may be little or no evidence or documentation about the climbing activities of indigenous peoples living near the mountain. The term is used when referring to ascents made using a specific technique or taking a specific route, such as via the North Face. In rock climbing, some of the earlier first ascents, particularly for difficult routes, involved a mix of free, as a result, purist free climbers have developed the designation first free ascent to acknowledge ascents intentionally made more challenging by using equipment for protection only. Some other first ascents could be recorded for particular mountains or routes, one is the First Winter Ascent, which is, as the name easily suggests, the first ascent made during winter season. This is most important where the climate of winter is a factor in increasing the difficulty grade of the route, in the Northern Hemisphere conventional winter ascents are made between December 21 and March 21 and are not related to the conditions. Also in the Himalayan area, although Nepal and Chinas winter season permits start on December 1, another is the First Solo Ascent, which is the first ascent made by a single climber. This is most important on high-level rock climbing, when the climber has to provide his own security or even when climbing without any protection at all, another type of ascent, also known as FFA is the first female ascent. The term last ascent has been used to refer to an ascent of a mountain or face that has changed to such an extent – often because of rockfall – that the route no longer exists. It can also be used facetiously to refer to a climb that is so unpleasant or unaesthetic that no one would willingly repeat the first ascent partys ordeal. List of first ascents List of first ascents in the Alps List of first ascents in the Himalaya Glossary of climbing terms Alpinist Magazine – Peter Mortimers First Ascent, Issue 17
13.
Geography of Norway
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Norway has a long land border with Sweden to the east, a shorter one with Finland in the northeast and a still shorter border with Russia in the far northeast. Norway has an elongated shape, one of the longest and most rugged coastlines in the world. The mainland covers 13° latitude, from 58°N to more than 71°N, the country-length chain of peaks is geologically continuous with the mountains of Scotland, Ireland and, crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the Appalachian Mountains of North America. Geologists hold that all formed a single range prior to the breakup of the ancient supercontinent Pangaea. Virtually the entire country was covered with an ice sheet during the last ice age. The movement of the ice carved out valleys, and when the ice melted. The land is still rebounding from the weight of the ice. Rebound is greatest in the part of the country and the inner part of the long fjords. This is a process, and for thousands of years following the end of the ice age. The sea reached what is today an elevation of 221 m in Oslo,25 m in Stavanger,5 m near Stad,180 m in Trondheim,50 m in Tromsø and 75 m in Kirkenes. This old seabed is now among the best agricultural land in the country, the glaciers in the higher mountain areas today are not remnants of the large ice sheet of the ice age, their origins are more recent. The regional climate was up to 1-3 °C warmer in 7000 BC to 3000 BC in the Holocene climatic optimum, as a result of the ice carving, Sognefjorden is the worlds second deepest fjord and Hornindalsvatnet is the deepest lake in Europe. With Svalbard and Jan Mayen included, the area is larger than Japan. Land boundaries, total,2,515 kmborder countries, Finland 729 km, Sweden 1,619 km, Russia 196 km. The EEZ along the mainland makes up 878575 km2, the Jan Mayen EEZ makes up 293049 km2, the Scandinavian Mountains are the most defining feature of the country. Starting with Setesdalsheiene north of the southern Skagerrak coast, the mountains go north, comprising parts of the country. This part includes Hardangervidda, Jotunheimen, Sognefjell and Trollheimen in the north, with glaciers, such as Jostedalsbreen, Folgefonna. The mountain chain swings eastwards south of Trondheim, with such as Dovrefjell and Rondane, and reaches to the border with Sweden
14.
Scandinavia
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Scandinavia /ˌskændᵻˈneɪviə/ is a historical and cultural region in Northern Europe characterized by a common ethnocultural North Germanic heritage and mutually intelligible North Germanic languages. The term Scandinavia always includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, the remote Norwegian islands of Svalbard and Jan Mayen are usually not seen as a part of Scandinavia, nor is Greenland, an overseas territory of Denmark. This looser definition almost equates to that of the Nordic countries, in Nordic languages, only Denmark, Norway and Sweden are commonly included in the definition of Scandinavia. In English usage, Scandinavia sometimes refers to the geographical area, the name Scandinavia originally referred vaguely to the formerly Danish, now Swedish, region Scania. Icelanders and the Faroese are to a significant extent descended from the Norse, Finland is mainly populated by Finns, with a minority of approximately 5% of Swedish speakers. A small minority of Sami people live in the north of Scandinavia. The Danish, Norwegian and Swedish languages form a continuum and are known as the Scandinavian languages—all of which are considered mutually intelligible with one another. Faroese and Icelandic, sometimes referred to as insular Scandinavian languages, are intelligible in continental Scandinavian languages only to a limited extent, Finnish and Meänkieli are closely related to each other and more distantly to the Sami languages, but are entirely unrelated to the Scandinavian languages. Apart from these, German, Yiddish and Romani are recognized minority languages in Scandinavia, the southern and by far most populous regions of Scandinavia have a temperate climate. Scandinavia extends north of the Arctic Circle, but has mild weather for its latitude due to the Gulf Stream. Much of the Scandinavian mountains have a tundra climate. There are many lakes and moraines, legacies of the last glacial period, Scandinavia usually refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Some sources argue for the inclusion of the Faroe Islands, Finland and Iceland, though that broader region is known by the countries concerned as Norden. Before this time, the term Scandinavia was familiar mainly to classical scholars through Pliny the Elders writings, and was used vaguely for Scania, as a political term, Scandinavia was first used by students agitating for Pan-Scandinavianism in the 1830s. After a visit to Sweden, Andersen became a supporter of early political Scandinavism, the term is often defined according to the conventions of the cultures that lay claim to the term in their own use. More precisely, and subject to no dispute, is that Finland is included in the broader term Nordic countries, various promotional agencies of the Nordic countries in the United States serve to promote market and tourism interests in the region. The official tourist boards of Scandinavia sometimes cooperate under one umbrella, Norways government entered one year later. All five Nordic governments participate in the joint promotional efforts in the United States through the Scandinavian Tourist Board of North America, Scandinavia can thus be considered a subset of the Nordic countries
15.
Northern Europe
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Northern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. However, narrower definitions may also be used based on geographical factors, such as climate. Greenland, geographically a part of North America, is politically a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, while Northern Europe overlaps with most of Northwestern Europe, north-Central Europe, and Northeastern Europe, it does not border Southern Europe. Countries which are central-western, central-central, or central-eastern are generally considered part of neither Northern Europe or Southern Europe. Historically, when Europe was dominated by the Mediterranean region, everything not near this sea was termed Northern Europe, including southern Germany, all of the Low Countries and this meaning is still used today in some contexts, such as in discussions of the Northern Renaissance. In medieval times, the term Thule was used to mean a place in the extreme northern reaches of the continent. The region has a south west extreme of around 50 degrees north, the entire regions climate is mildly affected by the Gulf Stream. From the west climates vary from maritime and maritime subarctic climates, in the north and central climates are generally subarctic or Arctic and to the east climates are mostly subarctic and temperate/continental. With the exception of the United Kingdom and Ireland, Northern European countries are known for harsh winters with temperatures reaching as low as minus 50 degrees Celsius in some parts. Countries in Northern Europe have large, developed economies and some of the highest standards of living in the world and they often score highly on surveys measuring quality of life, such as the Human Development Index
16.
Gudbrandsdalen
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Gudbrandsdalen is a valley and traditional district in the Norwegian county of Oppland. The valley is oriented in a direction from Lillehammer and the lake of Mjøsa. The river of Gudbrandsdalslågen flows through the valley, starting from Lesjaskogsvatnet, the Otta river flowing through Otta valley is a major tributary to Lågen. The valleys of the rivers such as Otta and Gausa are usuall regarded as part of the Gudbrand Valley. The total area of the valley is calculated from the areas of the related municipalities, together with Glomma river and Østerdalen, Lågen and the Gudbrand Valley forms Norways largest drainage system covering major parts of East Norway. The Gudbrand Valley is home to Dovre Line and the E6 road, the valley is divided into three parts, Norddalen, Midtdalen, and Sørdalen. The valley has two courts, north and south. Until 2016 the valley was also a police district, the main character in Henrik Ibsens play Peer Gynt was inspired by a real or legendary person living in the valley in the 18th or 17th century. Ibsen travelled through the valley in 1862 and collected stories, legends. The name Gudbrandsdalen means the valley/dale of Gudbrand, Gudbrand is an old male name compounded of guð, god and brandr, sword. Dale-Gudbrand was the name of the first ruler of the valley, Gudbrand Valley includes the most arid area in Norway. At Skjåk the average precipitation is only 278 mm. Gudbrand Valley sits in the rain shadow of the mountains West, North. In July 1789 the Storofsen flood disaster occurred and Gudbrandsdalslågen overflooded and this is the largest flood recorded in Norway and the valley was particularly affected. About 3000 houses were damaged and some thousand livestock drowned. Lågen rose up to 7 meters above its level and covered most of the valley floor. A number of farmers abandoned their farms and settled in Målselv. The second largest flood occurred in the summer of 1995 and again the valley floor was covered by water. After Storofsen the valley upstream from Sel church changed into bogs and shallow lakes because stone
17.
Sogn
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Sogn is a traditional district in Western Norway. It is located in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, surrounding the Sognefjorden, the district of Sogn consists of the municipalities of Aurland, Balestrand, Hyllestad, Høyanger, Gulen, Leikanger, Luster, Lærdal, Sogndal, Solund, Vik, and Årdal. The district covers 10,675 square kilometres and contains about 35% of the countys population, the largest urban area in Sogn is the village of Sogndalsfjøra, with 3,455 residents. The second largest urban area is the village Øvre Årdal, with 3,397 people, the district of Sogn comprises the southern part of the county Sogn og Fjordane. The districts of Sunnfjord and Nordfjord are the two districts in the county. The name Sogn is very old, and it belonged to the fjord. The name is derived from the verb súga which means suck—referring to the tidal streams at the mouth of the fjord. A parallel name for the district in Norse times was Sygnafylki, the first element in this name is the genitive of sygnir which means people from Sogn and the last element is fylki which is an old form of fylke which translates as county. Since early in the Viking Age, Sogn was a petty kingdom called Sygnafylki, some notable Kings of Sogn were Harald Gullskjegg, Halfdan the Black, and Harald Fairhair. In 1662, Sogn fogderi was created as part of the Nordre Bergenhus amt, Sogn was further divided into Indre Sogn and Ytre Sogn. Indre Sogn consisted of the half of the district which included the present day municipalities of Aurland, Leikanger, Luster, Lærdal, Sogndal. The village of Sogndalsfjøra was the administrative center, Ytre Sogn consisted of the present day municipalities of Balestrand, Gulen, Hyllestad, Høyanger, Solund, and Vik. The village of Høyanger was the administrative center, in 1919, Nordre Bergenhus amt was renamed Sogn og Fjordane fylke
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Southern Norway
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Southern Norway is the geographical region along the Skagerrak coast of southern Norway. The region is an informal description since it not have any governmental function. It roughly corresponds to the old petty kingdom of Agder as well as the two counties of Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder. The total combined area of Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder counties is 16,493 square kilometres, the name is relatively new, having first been used in Norway around 1900. The region includes areas along the Skagerrak and extends inland to the Setesdalsheiene mountains. There are many large valleys running from the mountains to the south, the highest point in the region is Sæbyggjenuten at 1,507 m. Sørlandet refers to the region along the Skaggerak in southeastern Norway and this name should not be confused with the Norwegian term Sør-Norge which literally means South Norway. This region was historically called Agder and it was a petty kingdom centuries ago, the name Agder was known in Old Norse as Agðir, and is assumed to be connected to the word ǫgd. Southern Norway is the youngest of the old regions within Norway. The name Sørlandet was first used by the author Vilhelm Krag, Krag proposed that Sørlandet should have been bigger than it is today, he suggested from Egersund to Grenland. The present day use of Sørlandet usually refers to a smaller than that. All the way back in 1865, it was talked about the southern Norway boats, the name and modern concept of this part of the country being considered as a separate region was introduced as late as 1902 by the local author Vilhelm Krag. Prior to this, the area was considered part of Western Norway, Southern Norway coincides roughly with the historic petty kingdom of Agder, which lends its name to the two constituent counties, Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder, as well as the University of Agder. If defined as a region, Southern Norway is perhaps more properly defined as the Skagerrak coastal belt. Occasionally, adjacent parts of the county of Rogaland and Telemark might be considered part of this region, the Arendal Airport, Gullknapp is a general aviation airport located outside of Arendal city. The airport was founded in 1984 with a 500-metre long runway, Arendal Airport, Rådhuskaien is a former water airport in the cove of downtown Arendal, but it is now closed. Farsund Airport, Lista is a public airport located with Lista. It opened in 1941 and closed in 1999, the airport was located at Lista
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Caledonian orogeny
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The Caledonian orogeny was a mountain building era recorded in the northern parts of Ireland and Britain, the Scandinavian Mountains, Svalbard, eastern Greenland and parts of north-central Europe. The Caledonian orogeny encompasses events that occurred from the Ordovician to Early Devonian and it was caused by the closure of the Iapetus Ocean when the continents and terranes of Laurentia, Baltica and Avalonia collided. The Caledonian orogeny is named for Caledonia, the Latin name for Scotland, the name was first used in 1885 by Austrian geologist Eduard Suess for an episode of mountain building in northern Europe that predated the Devonian period. Geologists like Émile Haug and Hans Stille saw the Caledonian orogeny as one of several phases of mountain building that had occurred during Earths history. Current understanding has it that the Caledonian orogeny encompasses a number of phases that can laterally be diachronous. The name Caledonian can therefore not be used for a period of geological time. The Caledonian orogeny was one of several orogenies that would form the supercontinent Pangaea in the Late Paleozoic era. Between 650 and 550 million years ago the smaller continents of Laurentia, Baltica, in the process, the Iapetus Ocean between Gondwana, Baltica and Laurentia closed. In the Early Ordovician period the microcontinent Avalonia began to separate from the margin of Gondwana. Some early phases of deformation and/or metamorphism are recognized in the Scandinavian Caledonides, the first phase that is often included in the Caledonian orogeny is the Finnmarkian phase at 505 million years ago. Another phase was the Jämtlandian phase at 455 million years ago and these phases are explained by the assumption that the western edge of Baltica collided with an island arc or microcontinent. In a similar way, the edge of Laurentia collided with an island arc during the Taconic orogeny. During the Ordovician, the continent of Avalonia moved independently in a northeastern direction towards Baltica. This motion was accommodated by the subduction of the southeastern Iapetus Ocean beneath eastern Avalonia, in the Late Ordovician continental collision started between Avalonia and Baltica. The Tornquist Sea disappeared in the process, the suture is the Tornquist line. The main phase of the Caledonian orogeny is called the Scandian phase in Scandinavia and it was caused by the collision between Laurentia and Baltica. The Iapetus Ocean first closed in the north, then in the south, therefore, the collision between Baltica and Laurentia took place a little earlier than that between Avalonia and Laurentia. Continental collision started in the Mid Silurian and mountain building took place in the Early Devonian, in North America, the collision between Avalonia and Laurentia is called the Acadian orogeny
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Gabbro
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Gabbro refers to a large group of dark, often phaneritic, mafic intrusive igneous rocks chemically equivalent to basalt. It forms when magma is trapped beneath the Earths surface. Much of the Earths oceanic crust is made of gabbro, formed at mid-ocean ridges, Gabbro is also found as plutons associated with continental volcanism. Due to its variant nature, the term gabbro may be applied loosely to a range of intrusive rocks. The term gabbro was used in the 1760s to name a set of types that were found in the ophiolites of the Apennine Mountains in Italy. Then, in 1809, the German geologist Christian Leopold von Buch used the term more restrictively in his description of these Italian ophiolitic rocks and he assigned the name gabbro to rocks that geologists nowadays would more strictly call metagabbro. Von Buch named gabbro after Gabbro, a village in Rosignano Marittimo municipality of Tuscany, Gabbro is dense, greenish or dark-colored and contains pyroxene, plagioclase, and minor amounts of amphibole and olivine. The pyroxene content is mostly clinopyroxene, generally augite, but small amounts of orthopyroxene may also be present, if the amount of orthopyroxene is more than 95% of the total pyroxene content, then the rock is termed norite. On the other hand, gabbro has more than 95% of its pyroxenes in the form of the monoclinic clinopyroxene/s, the calcium rich plagioclase feldspar and pyroxene content vary between 10% - 90% in gabbro. If more than 90% plagioclase is present, then the rock is an anorthosite, if on the other hand, the rock contains more than 90% pyroxenes, it is termed pyroxenite. Gabbro may also contain amounts of olivine, amphibole and biotite. The quartz content in gabbro is less than 5% of total volume, quartz gabbros or monzogabbros are also known to occur, for example the cizlakite at Pohorje in northeastern Slovenia, and are probably derived from magma that was over-saturated with silica. Gabbros contain minor amounts, typically a few percent, of iron-titanium oxides such as magnetite, ilmenite, Gabbro is generally coarse grained, with crystals in the size range of 1 mm or greater. Finer grained equivalents of gabbro are called diabase, although the term microgabbro is often used when extra descriptiveness is desired, Gabbro may be extremely coarse grained to pegmatitic, and some pyroxene-plagioclase cumulates are essentially coarse grained gabbro, some may exhibit acicular crystal habits. Gabbro is usually equigranular in texture, although it may be porphyritic at times, cumulate gabbros are more properly termed pyroxene-plagioclase adcumulate. Gabbro is an part of the oceanic crust, and can be found in many ophiolite complexes as parts of zones III. Long belts of gabbroic intrusions are typically formed at proto-rift zones and around ancient rift zone margins, mantle plume hypotheses may rely on identifying mafic and ultramafic intrusions and coeval basalt volcanism. It is better to base a rock definition on descriptive characteristics of the rather than how or where it was formed
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Ice age
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An ice age is a period of long-term reduction in the temperature of Earths surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Within a long-term ice age, individual pulses of cold climate are termed glacial periods, in the terminology of glaciology, ice age implies the presence of extensive ice sheets in both northern and southern hemispheres. In 1742 Pierre Martel, an engineer and geographer living in Geneva, two years later he published an account of his journey. He reported that the inhabitants of that valley attributed the dispersal of erratic boulders to the glaciers, later similar explanations were reported from other regions of the Alps. In 1815 the carpenter and chamois hunter Jean-Pierre Perraudin explained erratic boulders in the Val de Bagnes in the Swiss canton of Valais as being due to glaciers previously extending further. An unknown woodcutter from Meiringen in the Bernese Oberland advocated a similar idea in a discussion with the Swiss-German geologist Jean de Charpentier in 1834, comparable explanations are also known from the Val de Ferret in the Valais and the Seeland in western Switzerland and in Goethes scientific work. Such explanations could also be found in parts of the world. When the Bavarian naturalist Ernst von Bibra visited the Chilean Andes in 1849–1850, meanwhile, European scholars had begun to wonder what had caused the dispersal of erratic material. From the middle of the 18th century, some discussed ice as a means of transport, the Swedish mining expert Daniel Tilas was, in 1742, the first person to suggest drifting sea ice in order to explain the presence of erratic boulders in the Scandinavian and Baltic regions. In 1795, the Scottish philosopher and gentleman naturalist, James Hutton, two decades later, in 1818, the Swedish botanist Göran Wahlenberg published his theory of a glaciation of the Scandinavian peninsula. He regarded glaciation as a regional phenomenon, only a few years later, the Danish-Norwegian geologist Jens Esmark argued a sequence of worldwide ice ages. In a paper published in 1824, Esmark proposed changes in climate as the cause of those glaciations and he attempted to show that they originated from changes in Earths orbit. During the following years, Esmarks ideas were discussed and taken over in parts by Swedish, Scottish, at the University of Edinburgh Robert Jameson seemed to be relatively open to Esmarks ideas, as reviewed by Norwegian professor of glaciology Bjørn G. Andersen. Jamesons remarks about ancient glaciers in Scotland were most probably prompted by Esmark, in Germany, Albrecht Reinhard Bernhardi, a geologist and professor of forestry at an academy in Dreissigacker, since incorporated in the southern Thuringian city of Meiningen, adopted Esmarks theory. In a paper published in 1832, Bernhardi speculated about former polar ice caps reaching as far as the zones of the globe. When he read his paper before the Schweizerische Naturforschende Gesellschaft, most scientists remained sceptical, finally, Venetz convinced his friend Jean de Charpentier. De Charpentier transformed Venetzs idea into a theory with a limited to the Alps. In fact, both men shared the same volcanistic, or in de Charpentiers case rather plutonistic assumptions, about the Earths history, in 1834, de Charpentier presented his paper before the Schweizerische Naturforschende Gesellschaft
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Nunatak
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A nunatak is an exposed, often rocky element of a ridge, mountain, or peak not covered with ice or snow within an ice field or glacier. They are also called glacial islands, the word is of Greenlandic origin and has been used in English since the 1870s. The term is used in areas where a permanent ice sheet is present. Nunataks present readily identifiable landmark reference points in glaciers or ice caps and are often named, while some nunataks are isolated, sometimes they form dense clusters, such as Queen Louise Land in Greenland. Nunataks are generally angular and jagged, which hampers the formation of ice on their tops. They usually contrast strongly with the contours of the glacially eroded land after a glacier retreats. Typically nunataks are the places where plant life can survive on the ice sheets or ice caps. Lifeforms on nunataks are isolated by the surrounding ice or glacier. Fell Glacial landforms Media related to Nunatak at Wikimedia Commons Nunatak survival of the high Alpine plant Eritrichium nanum
Media related to Galdhøpiggen at Wikimedia Commons
