Geography of the Faroe Islands

The geology of the Faroe Islands has, in its history parallels the geology of Iceland, the volcanic activity in the Faroe Islands has gone long. Geologically, the Faroe Islands are about 60 million years old.

The Faroe Islands lie on the Wyville -Thomson cross back in the North Atlantic, extending from Ireland and Scotland over the Faroe Islands and Iceland to Greenland and Iceland meets the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

In the Tertiary ( 60 to 70 million years ago) was created by volcanic activity on the Wyville -Thomson Ridge, a vast plateau, which was about 3000 to 4000 meters high.

From the cooled lava, the typical Faroese basalt, which is repeatedly traversed by thinner tuff layers that emerged from the subsequent rain of ash, the cooled and compressed was created. Each of the three to ten meters, sometimes up to 30 meters thick basalt layers is evidence of a volcanic eruption. The softer tuff layers in between are much thinner.

In a volcanic break there was a tropical vegetation. Coal layers on Suðuroy and Mykines show footprints Urweltmammutbaums and ginkgo.

Riverbeds emerged and picked their best way through cracks in the rock, where they formed deep canyons over time, so-called V- valleys. Since the plateau dropped slightly from northwest to southeast, ran well most of the rivers in this direction. The surf of the Atlantic reached the plateau at on its shore. The soft tuff layers were not up to this violence, were rinsed and allowed the basalt layers collapse it. So formidable escarpments formed mainly on the west and north coasts.

Due to this erosion, the largest part of this plateau is lowered from. This left the islands of the Hebrides, Faroe Islands and Iceland, where Iceland was only about 20 million years ago and due to its location on the mid-Atlantic ridge is volcanically active today, while the basalts of the British Isles, such as the Giant's Causeway, compared with those of Faroe Islands are comparatively modest.

From the volcanic activity in the Faroe Islands today testifies next to the rock formations only a mineral spring, warm about 20 ° C at Varmakelda Fuglafjørður on Eysturoy.

Ice age

The ice ages divided the Quaternary, which began about 2.4 million years. The Ice Age glaciers that covered the whole island during the ice ages, formed from the remains of this plateau, the Faroe Islands in its present form. The Glacier ( jøklar, singular Jokul ) hiked the natural way on the inclined plane along the southeast and formed from the existing canyons ( gjáir, singular Gjógv ) the characteristic U-shaped valleys ( Dalir singular Dalur ), often filled with water, a connection created with the sea and form the present straits and fjords of the Faroe Islands. The largest lake in the Faroe Islands, the Sørvágsvatn would so become almost a fjord ( Fjordur ), but this, it is 32 meters above the sea level.

The ice ages owe the Faroe its present form. It is characteristic that the islands of the Faroe almost all extending in the southeast -northwest direction, according to the straits between them and the sometimes long fjords to doubt the viewer often wonder if the opposite piece of land is a neighboring island, or just the other side of the fjord.

East Coast and country interior

Where the glacier had their origin, we see today semicircular circus valleys that are called by the Faroese botnur. Often the fjord ends, what place names recall how Kaldbaksbotnur. In the bays here sometimes form flat sandy beaches, such as in Tjornuvik that (hence and mostly in the shade) is in such a valley.

The longest glacial valley (U - valley ) in the Faroe Islands is the 11 km long valley between Saksun and Hvalvík, the Saksundalur. Here, as elsewhere throughout the inland and the coast, the typical staircase structures of the slopes that have shaped the glacier from the basalt and tuff layers to show. Such a unit is called to its vertical side in Faroese hamar, therefore, for example, the place name Hamrabyrgi. The shallower, grassy, relationships between the Hamrar called ROK (Pl. røkur ). They formed from the weathered tuff. At the foot of each Hamars collects additional rubble. Streams (Air, singular á) plunge down a waterfall here ( fossur ).

A mountain slope on the east coast and in the interior can be as have various levels where you - arrived at its foot - often the summit can not see, but is highly works from floor to floor. From about 300 meters begins another vegetation, from about 600 meters, it is arctic - alpine. Every 100 meters decreases the average temperature is around ½ ° C. Not only because all live Faroese below 100 meters at the fish-rich coast. Down here in the fjords and bays, it is also protected from the wind and to think of agriculture in general. The higher elevations are the 70,000 sheep reserved as grazing land.

From the former plateau still bear witness to the highest mountains of the Faroe Islands. They are often mesas. For example, the highest mountain in the archipelago, the Slættaratindur ( 882 m ), hence its name flat summit. He falls to the north relatively flat (not vertical) in the Atlantic Ocean off and applies as if the highest of its kind in Europe, which rises directly from the sea.

Many other mountains are ridges that form part of entire islands such as Kalsoy and Kunoy. At their ends, they look like a pyramid. Inland often follows such a ridge, interrupted by a U-shaped valley, to the next. The valley lies below sea level, it is a fjord or sound.

The climate in the Faroes ensures that none of the summit is covered in the summer of snow. This can only stop at some small, always shady places.

A mountain in the interior is, in Faroese fjall [ fjadl ] (Pl. fjøll ). This is exactly the same meaning as in Norway Fjell. Accordingly, also means the mountain landscape itself Fjall.

Cliffs, islets and cliffs

The cliffs and cliffs of the Faroe Islands are among the highest in the world. Frequently the Cape Enniberg ( 754 meters) is considered to Viðoy in the far north of the archipelago as the highest Seekliff the world, others are more modest and call it the highest in Europe. It is necessary to consider what you are talking: a steep slope or a vertical wall. Enniberg is vertical. Vertical is not the criterion, then the Kunoyarnakkur (819 m) at the northern tip Kunoys is again one of the highest cape in the world. Perpendicular walls with several hundred meters are usually found on the western and northern coasts of the islands. They are the famous bird cliffs ( fuglabjørg, singular fuglaberg ) as nesting sites for the Faroese Seevogelwelt. In Faroese distinction is made between fjall and mountain. A mountain is always a cliff.

This coast is still constantly the surf, which can be up to 50 meters high, and exposed to the fierce winter storms. In the rock caves located anywhere that has flushed the sea. Meets the surf in such a cavity, creates a high air pressure, which is responsible with when parts are blasted out of the rock. Therefore, the coast is not only crossed by vertical columns, but all also provided with immediately upstream freestanding cliffs. Such a column is called stakkur if it is dull, and drangur if it tapers to a point. On a large Stakkur also sheep can graze.

There are also off the coast of Holme. A Holm ( Holmur ) is a small island ( oyggj ), but which is not included among the 18 islands of the Faroes. And finally, there are small flat islets that are not covered by grass, but eg gray seals serve as a refuge.

Word lists of geological terms

FMN.fo - Jarðfrøðiorðalisti ( Geology wordlist Danish - Faroese - Danish)
FMN.fo - Oljuorðalisti (oil Word List English- Faroese -English )

Disputed territories: Kosovo | Transnistria

Faroe Islands
Geography ( Faroe Islands )

Fell Volcanism Ginkgo biloba Chine Breaker (reef) Danish straits Pyramid (geometry) Sandoy Grotto Geography of Bulgaria Geography of Ireland Geography of Montenegro Geography of Serbia Geography of Slovakia Geography of Ukraine Geography of Kosovo Geography of Africa

366441