Landforms in Skåne, South Sweden

ABSTRACT

Landforms in Skåne have been analysed on the basis of two computer-made relief maps in 1:250 000. The relief is represented by hill shading. These maps give both an overview and a detailed view of the landforms. Information about the geology and bedrock topography under the Quaternary cover have also been taken into consideration in the interpretation. This analysis has resulted in three maps, one of the forms in the bedrock, another of the depositional forms in the Quaternary cover, and a third one of glacial spillways and other erosional valleys. Although Skåne is one of the most widely investigated parts of Sweden, several new discoveries were made. These include observations on the existence and extension of minor horsts, the pattern of Late Glacial spillways, the unexpectedly large number of drumlins, the pattern of small moraine ridges, and the distinct delimitation and areal extent of the hummocky moraine in the south (Backlandet).

The information gained has been used for an analysis of the processes that led to the present landforms and of the timing of landforming events. Skåne has a varied bedrock due to its position within the Tornquist Tectonic Zone. Late Cretaceous inversion tectonics was succeeded by erosion on obliquely elevated bedrock blocks. There are two erosional levels in the raised areas at about 150 and 100 m a.s.l. The relief is interpreted to have been produced by erosion to successively lower base levels, including exhumation of sub-Mesozoic relief. The bedrock knolls of this relief, produced by Mesozoic etching and subsequent stripping, are now often cores in the drumlins, as also are the Jurassic volcanic necks. The present valley systems are almost all found to be influenced by the Late Glacial drainage and several water gaps occur. This focuses the attention to the relative importance of preglacial and glaciofluvial processes in the formation of the valleys.

The deglaciation of the area was reconstructed with the aid of the Late Glacial erosional and depositional forms and the Quaternary lithostratigraphy. Two phases of the Late Weichselian deglaciation have been reconstructed: 1) The main recession during which a large body of ice stagnated in the south and was surrounded by diverging ice streams, and large glacial lakes were formed in the Vomb Basin; 2) The Low Baltic readvance with a renewed damming of a glacial lake in the Vomb Basin. During the recession of the ice several systems of glacial spillways formed or reshaped the valleys of Skåne.