Salpausselkä

The Salpausselkä [ ˌ sɑlpɑu̯s selkæ ] is a series of end moraines that run in a wide arc from south to eastern Finland.

They originated in the Younger Dryas about 11,000 years ago, when a cold period the retreat of the glaciers that covered almost the whole of Fennoscandia, delayed, by the deposition of post-glacial sands and gravels at the edges of the ice sheet. There are three mountain ranges in general.

The longest and most prominent is the so -called "first" Salpausselkä ( Salpausselkä I), extending from the peninsula of Hanko in southwestern Finland over Lahti and Lappeenranta over a length of about 600 km in a wide arc until well after Eastern Finland. Its highest point reaches the Salpausselkä in Tiirismaa with 222.6 meters west of Lahti in the area of ​​the city Hollola. In this section, the Salpausselkä marks the southern end of the Päijänne. On the Tiirismaa there is a high transmission tower. Lahti is situated on the slopes of the ridge with the Salpausselkä jumps also the center of the Finnish ski jumping sport.

The "second" Salpausselkä ( Salpausselkä II) runs 10-20 km northward displaced, but is significantly lower.

The Salpausselkä III in Southwest Finland only reaches a length of 150 km and is also younger. It was created during a cold period around 9900-9600 years ago, when a new cold period in turn brought the melt of the ice sheet to a halt.

The Salpausselkä limited watershed to the Finnish Lakeland to the south and east. The only two outflows of the lake system to the south are the rivers Kymi and Vuoksi. The Kymi River broke through the Salpausselkä around 6,000 years ago, the Vuoksi around 5000 years ago on the site of Imatrafalls; since they dehydrate Eastern Finland and large parts of Central Finland towards Lake Ladoga and the Gulf of Bothnia.

• Mountain in Finland
• Mountain in Europe