Sognefjord

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short description Template:Infobox body of water

The Sognefjord or Sognefjorden ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}, Template:Langx<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>), nicknamed the King of the Fjords (Template:Langx), is the longest and deepest fjord in Norway.<ref name="readersnatural">Template:Cite book</ref> Located in Vestland county in Western Norway, it stretches Template:Convert inland from the ocean to the small village of Skjolden in Luster Municipality.<ref name="readersnatural" />

The fjord gives its name to the surrounding district of Sogn.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The name is related to Norwegian word súg- "to suck", presumably from the surge or suction of the tidal currents at the mouth of the fjord.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Geography

File:Vangsnes 1.jpg
View of the fjord near Vangsnes

The fjord runs through many municipalities: Solund, Gulen, Hyllestad, Høyanger, Vik, Sogndal, Lærdal, Aurland, Årdal, and Luster. The fjord reaches a maximum depth of Template:Convert below sea level, and the greatest depths are found in the central parts of the fjord near Høyanger.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Store norske leksikon">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Sognefjord is more than Template:Convert deep for about Template:Convert of its length, from Rutledal to Hermansverk. Near its mouth, the bottom rises abruptly to a sill about Template:Convert below sea level. The seabed in Sognefjord is covered by some Template:Convert sediments such that the bedrock is some Template:Convert below sea level. The fjord is up to Template:Convert wide.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> The average width of the main branch of the Sognefjord is less than Template:Convert. The depth increases gradually from Årdal to a central basin reaching more than Template:Convert in depth located between Leikanger and Brekke. From Brekke the floor rises rapidly to Losna island, then drops gradually with a threshold at about Template:Convert in the Solund area. Thresholds occur in an area with sounds, valleys, and low land where the glacier was allowed spread out and lose its erosive effect.<ref name="Holtedahl" />

Cliffs surrounding the fjord rise almost sheer from the water to heights of Template:Convert and more. Around the outer area the land rises to about Template:Convert above the sea, while in the inner areas of the fjord, they reach about Template:Convert. The inner part has extensive tributary fjords such as Aurlandsfjorden, while the outer part is connected by narrow sounds to neighbouring fjords. Near the coast the fjord mouth is bounded largely by low islands and skerries that are part of the strandflat.<ref name="Holtedahl">Template:Cite book</ref>

The inner end of the Sognefjord is southeast of a mountain range rising to about Template:Convert above sea level and covered by the Jostedalsbreen, continental Europe's largest glacier. Thus the climate of the inner end of Sognefjorden and its branches are not as wet as on the outer coastline.<ref name="Norge">Template:Cite book</ref> Hurrungane range at the eastern end of the fjord reaches Template:Convert. The greatest elevation from seabed to summit is in Sogndal Municipality. Several rivers pour fresh water into the fjord with an annual "spring" flood in June.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The mouth of the fjord is surrounded by many islands including Sula, Losna, and Hiserøyna. The Sognefjord cuts through a northwestern gneiss area with a south-west to north-east structure, and penetrates the Caledonian fold through in the inner part. There is no clear relation between the east–west direction of the main fjord and the fold patterns of the bedrock, while some of tributary fjords in the parts corresponds to fold pattern.<ref name="Holtedahl" />

The volume of the whole Sognefjorden including its various branches is about Template:Convert, while the total volume of rock eroded by glaciers from the entire Sognefjord system and adjacent valleys is about Template:Convert.<ref name=":0" />

Branches

There are many smaller fjords which branch off the main fjord.

Lustrafjorden

The innermost arm of the Sognefjorden is called the Lustrafjord, in the municipality of Luster.<ref name="readersnatural" /> At its end is the village of Skjolden, which is an access point to Jotunheimen National Park. In earlier times, transport between Bergen and the Scandinavian inland was by boat between Bergen and Skjolden and from there on a simple road over the highlands (today Norwegian County Road 55), or by boat to Lærdal and through the mountain pass to Valdres (now European route E16).

Origin and geology

The valley of Sognefjord is one of various valleys of western Norway that certainly predates the Quaternary glaciations. It existed already as part of the ancient Paleic surface but had at the time much gentler slopes.<ref name=Lidmar-Bergstrometal2000/> The fjords of western Norway formed in connection to the east-ward tilting of much of Norway during the Cenozoic uplift of the Scandinavian Mountains. This uplift, that occurred long before the Quaternary glaciations, enabled rivers to incise deeply the Paleic relief.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=Nesjeetal1992>Template:Cite journal</ref> An estimate of 7610 km3 of rock has been eroded from the Sognefjord drainage basin since the Paleic surface formed.<ref name=Nesjeetal1992/><ref name=Lidmar-Bergstrometal2000>Template:Cite journal</ref> The fluvial and glacial erosion that made the fjords has followed structural weaknesses in the crust.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

During the last glaciation the ice reached a maximum thickness of nearly 3000 meters in the Sognefjord area. Confluence of tributary fjords led excavation of the deepest fjord basin. Until about 30 km from the very coast the Sognefjord glacier was apparently constricted to its narrow channel of homogeneous gneiss, then the glacier suddenly spread out presumably through sounds and low valleys.<ref name="Holtedahl" /><ref>Aarseth, I., Nesje, A., & Fredin, O. (2014). West Norwegian fjords. Geological Society of Norway (NGF), Trondheim, 2014. Template:ISBN</ref>

Tourism

File:Fjord in Norway.jpg
Nærøyfjord
File:Hans Gude--Likferd Pa Sognefjorden--1853.jpg
1853 painting of Sognefjord by Hans Gude and Adolph Tidemand.

Boats connect settlements along the fjord and its sidearms. Larger villages on the fjord and its branches include Leirvik, Ytre Oppedal, Vadheim, Høyanger, Vikøyri, Balestrand, Hermansverk, Sogndalsfjøra, Gudvangen, Flåm, Aurlandsvangen, Lærdalsøyri, Årdalstangen, Gaupne and Solvorn. Gudvangen is situated by the Nærøyfjord, a branch of the Sognefjord particularly noted for its unspoiled nature and dramatic scenery, and only Template:Convert across at its narrowest point. Together with the Geirangerfjord in Møre og Romsdal, the Nærøyfjord is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. From the village of Flåm, the Flåm Railway climbs Template:Convert up to Myrdal Station in a distance of only Template:Convert— one of the steepest unassisted railway climb in the world.<ref name="sognefjord">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Around the inner end of the fjord, three of Norway's famous stave churches have survived: Kaupanger and Urnes (along the shoreline) and Borgund (Template:Convert into the Lærdal valley).<ref name="sognefjord"/>

The Sognefjord Span (power lines) crosses the fjord with a span of Template:Convert. This is the second largest span of power lines in the world. The fjord has become a tourist attraction with summer tourists being an important part of the local economy.

Transport

There is a plan to build a road across the Sognefjord, crossing through a submerged tube in mid-water anchored to floats. This will avoid storms on the surface, and will not have to go over a kilometer deep to get below the bed of the fjord.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

There are many ferry crossings of the Sognefjord. One of the ferryboats that traverses this fjord is the MV Ampere, the world's first battery-electric car ferry, which crosses the fjord between the villages of Lavik and Ytre Oppedal.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Other

See also

References

Template:Reflist

Template:Sister project Template:Wikivoyage

Template:Authority control

Retrieved from "https://wiki.sarg.dev/index.php?title=Sognefjord&oldid=781336"