How was the Swedish landscape formed? As Scandinavia has been the centre of several glaciations the erosive and land forming processes of the continental ice sheets have been of significant importance in the formation of today’s landscape. Most sediments and landforms are more or less directly produced by glacial movements or from melt water originating from glaciers, or deposited in glacial lakes/sea at deglaciations. We will start this course with the ice; during a field course we will visit Hardangerjökulen, an active glacier in Norway. We will be on the glacier, in front of it and, if circumstances permits, also underneath it. We will learn how a glacier operates, where melt water is formed and where it flows, as well as how different sediments are deposited and how different landforms are produced. Back in Lund there will be a number of lectures and exercises, combined with field investigations and laboratory work, analyses of maps and interpretation of aerial photographs. This will all increase your knowledge and apprehension of how continental ice sheets once formed a glacial landscape.

The excursion to Finse in Norway offers exciting walks in front and on top of glaciers. Photo: Per Möller