Aurlandsdalen - a valley at the west coast of Norway

[Hoy]

While the valleys in the eastern parts of Norway usually are wide, U-shaped and gentle, it is quite opposite in west. The valleys once were U-shaped and gentle but an upheaval that started a long time ago have changed that. The valleys both in east and west are much older than the last glacial period. While the eastern valleys are much influenced and shaped by ice and hence mostly are formed like an U in cross section, running water has been important to create the dramatic steep V-formed canyons of the west coast.

Aurlandsdalen is a typical west coast valley.
At the watershed (which is halfway between Oslo and Bergen, in the middle of the southern "fat" part of Norway) the valleys going west is similar to the valley going east. gentle shallow and U-shaped.

Although this is lake Finse which is at another watershed south of Aurlandsdalen, it is very similar to a lake almost at the watershed of Aurlandsdalen (going NW) and Hallingdal (going SE) (Finsvatn also drains through Hallingdal). You can't by the look of it tell whether this valley goes west or east!




A little further west at Østerbø the Aurland valley still looks gentle. Looking back (towards east), an early cloudy morning Østerbø at 820m is well below the tree limit. Now a place for tourists it was a summer pasture for farmers down in the valley. Sheep still graze here in summer.




Looking west the valley starts to get a more dramatic appearance.






Our trip ends at Vassbygdi by the lake Vassbygdevatnet at 55m asl after walking 19km, but Aurlandsdalen continues some more kilometers to Aurlandsvangen at Aurlandsfjorden. Aurlandsfjorden is a part of Sognefjorden. This fjord is more than 200km long and 1300m deep! So if you measure the mountains from the bottom of the fjord to the summits they are 3000m high.

View of Vassbygdevatnet. Aurlandsdalen continues further down to the fjord and if you want to take the Flåm railway to Myrdal (and Finse) it starts at Flåm further along the fjord, to the left side of the "blue" mountain in the picture.

[Hoy]

The old pastures are slowly taken over by "weed".

Fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium) has spread considerably the last 50 years. Previously rare in west (common in east and north) it is now everywhere. The impact is not too bad though - until it goes to seed!




Valeriana sambucifolia has also spread a lot. It does like moist conditions.




Hypericum maculatum.




Galium boreale.




Aconitum lycoctonum and Polystichum longchitis.



(To be continued)

[Hoy]

The bedrock in this part of Norway consists mainly of 3 layers. The bottom layer is > 1 billion year old Precambrian granites and gneisses. Above that is c500 mill. year old cambo-silurian phyllites and mica schist. The topmost layer is > 1 billion year old  magmatic rocks metamorphosed into gneisses and amphibolite. This also has consequences for the flora in the area.

The top layer of rather hard nutrient poor rocks weather into acidic soil. The result is an "uninteresting" flora of "common" plants like heathers, sedges etc. The dominating tree is mountain birch (Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii) and occasionally a few rowans (Sorbus aucuparia) and alders (Alnus incana).




The second layer gives much better soils and here you can find a lot of nice plants. Plants typically grows on ledges, cracks and screes. A very common plant here is Saxifraga cotyledon. Sedum roseum (Rhodiola rosea) is also frequent.




Some of the saxes can count 1000 flowers!




Saxifraga aizoides is also common.




Sedum album isn't particularly picky but thrives here also.

[Robert]

Trond,

Some of the photographs are very dramatic!

Your geologic explanations are very interesting. I have to admit that I start to ponder the petroleum geology off the western coast of Norway. I have read that there are also coal seams off the western coast too. I some places the geology in the Sierra Nevada Foothills is very convoluted and difficult to understand. Most likely it is the same in Norway.

Some of the plants pictured are quite nice. In the gneiss and amphibolite strata the flora is uninteresting. Are there fewer species too? As in only certain species can grow in this nutrient poor soil? Under such conditions in California one is likely to find endemic or rare species, but not always. In some ways it appears that the common and uninteresting species in California are found in the areas that are over grown and have not burned in a very long time. In some forest settings I can walk for miles and see only a few species - all the same over and over again!

[Gabriela]

I guess it's easy to get lost among so many valleys and fjords Trond  but the landscapes are very enjoyable! I'm obviously in need of a refresher course in geology 

[Hoy]

Trond,

Some of the photographs are very dramatic!

Your geologic explanations are very interesting. I have to admit that I start to ponder the petroleum geology off the western coast of Norway. I have read that there are also coal seams off the western coast too. I some places the geology in the Sierra Nevada Foothills is very convoluted and difficult to understand. Most likely it is the same in Norway.

Some of the plants pictured are quite nice. In the gneiss and amphibolite strata the flora is uninteresting. Are there fewer species too? As in only certain species can grow in this nutrient poor soil? Under such conditions in California one is likely to find endemic or rare species, but not always. In some ways it appears that the common and uninteresting species in California are found in the areas that are over grown and have not burned in a very long time. In some forest settings I can walk for miles and see only a few species - all the same over and over again!

My geologic explanation was very short! It is much more complicated than I could write in a short text
The petroleum geology is also complicated and it isn't easy to find the oil or gas (some think that this is a good thing!). They often find coal in the drill cores. On the mainland only small amounts of coal is found on Andøya but coal is still mined on Svalbard.

Svalbard, abandoned coal mine and coal fallen from the aerial tramway.






Most soils in Norway is podsol and hence the majority of plant species are adapted to such conditions. Some of these plant communities can nevertheless be interesting! Usually though they consists of few species.

[Hoy]

I guess it's easy to get lost among so many valleys and fjords Trond  but the landscapes are very enjoyable! I'm obviously in need of a refresher course in geology 

You have to follow the paths you know, Gabriela - or use map and compass (I don't use GPS)
Geology is closely connected to flora (or maybe the other way) as you know!

[Hoy]

A few more plants from Aurlandsdalen:

Cloudberry. We found just a handful - they prefer sphagnum moss bogs - and they tasted heavenly




Asplenium viride




Holly-fern (Polystichum lonchitis). The biggest specimens are about 1 meter tall. Those in cracks were considerably smaller.




Cornus suecica




Rubus saxatilis. Edible but not very tasty and the seed is big.

[ranunculus]

Excellent report and images, Trond … and I agree, cloudberries are delicious … we tasted them for the first time courtesy of Magnar and Toril.

[David Lyttle]

Trond, more stunning landscapes beautifully photographed. I find the plants and vegetation types very interesting and different to those I am familiar with. I should include Norway in my northern hemisphere tour (if and when it happens - it was meant to be this year but other stuff intervened).

[Tristan_He]

Trond I always love your holiday snaps, and it's great to get a little background too. Here most of our Arctic-alpines are just a handful of survivors clinging on, in Norway you have the real thing. And your education system is very good, even the saxifrages can count 

[Robert]

Trond,

It is not surprising that the geology is very complex. I certainly wish I had a much better understanding of the geology in our part of California. Some understand of geology is helpful when looking for unusual plant habitats.

Ooohhh! Cloudberries grow in sphagnum moss bogs. I feel certain that you mentioned this to me in the past. I will have to give them (cloudberries) a try again with this in mind... or maybe they just dislike our California dry heat. Gardening is fun but can be very challenging at times. 

The coal mine is a big mess. Will there be an effort to restore the landscape? Here in the U.S.A, with coal mining sometimes there is an effort to restore the land. In California the scars from gold mining are everywhere. In some cases there is still pollution from the gold mining - generally mercury and other heavy metals. The hydraulic mining has left huge scars that most likely will take thousand, or more likely millions of years to disappear.

[Hoy]

Excellent report and images, Trond … and I agree, cloudberries are delicious … we tasted them for the first time courtesy of Magnar and Toril.

Thanks Cliff!  This year we have only picked 1 litre. The crop vary considerably from year to year - depending on many factors! It is usually more reliable in north at Magnar and Toril

[Hoy]

Trond, more stunning landscapes beautifully photographed. I find the plants and vegetation types very interesting and different to those I am familiar with. I should include Norway in my northern hemisphere tour (if and when it happens - it was meant to be this year but other stuff intervened).

Thanks David! I find your homely landscape and flora very interesting And you are welcome any time!

[Hoy]

Trond I always love your holiday snaps, and it's great to get a little background too. Here most of our Arctic-alpines are just a handful of survivors clinging on, in Norway you have the real thing. And your education system is very good, even the saxifrages can count 

Thanks Tristan! - We have a lot more mountains and are situated a bit farther north than you! But we are experiencing the same as you although the situation is not as critical yet.