Fjord

geology · coastlines · glaciers · Norway

Carved by glaciers. Fjords are deep valleys that were originally dug out by massive glaciers thousands of years ago. When the glaciers melted and sea levels rose, water rushed in to fill these valleys, creating the spectacular steep-sided inlets we see today.

Water between cliffs. A fjord has incredibly steep sides, almost like someone carved a giant slice between two mountains and then let the ocean fill it up. The cliffs rise dramatically from very deep water, making fjords look almost like they belong in a fantasy movie.

Found in icy places. Fjords exist around Antarctica, the Arctic, and in places where glaciers once roamed, especially in the northern and southern parts of the world. Norway is the fjord champion, with nearly 1,200 of them stretching along its coast.

Makes coastlines tricky to measure. Norway's actual coastline is so jagged and complicated because of all its fjords that it's incredibly hard to measure. If you count every fjord, the coast is about 29,000 kilometers long, but if you ignore them, it's only 2,500 kilometers, which shows just how much the fjords zigzag the edge of the land.

Glacier's frozen fingerprint. Fjords are what glaciers leave behind as their signature on the landscape. They prove that ice once shaped these regions in powerful ways, creating some of the most beautiful and dramatic coastal scenery on Earth.