page_title: Vindelfjällen Nature Reserve
section_title: Geomorphology
hierarchical_section_title: Vindelfjällen Nature Reserve / Geology / Geomorphology
caption_attribution_description: Dalgången Syterskalet i Norra Storfjället
context_page_description: The Vindelfjällen Nature Reserve is a nature reserve located in the municipalities of Sorsele and Storuman in Västerbotten County of Swedish Lapland. It is the largest natural reserve in Sweden and one of the largest protected areas in Europe, totaling 562,772 ha.
  Most of the reserve is made up of several Scandinavian Mountains, the main ones being Artfjället, Norra Storfjället, Ammarfjället and Björkfjället. Most of the landscapes of the Swedish mountains are represented. This ranges from the pronounced alpine character of Norra Storfjället, which includes the highlight of the reserve, the Norra Sytertoppen, to the plateau and plains near the base of the mountains. The differences in elevation highlight the diversity of rocks in the mountains. Among the mountains are the valleys and waterways of the Ume River drainage basin. This includes a portion of the Vindel River, after which the reserve is named. Towards the east, the elevation decreases and the mountains give way to the Lapland Plains.
  This landscape diversity also includes biodiversity. The reserve covers the primary forests of the Nordic taiga in the eastern plains to alpine tundra and birch forests in the west.
context_section_description: While the Scandinavian Alps gradually increase altitude, erosion can negate this slow growth. While this includes river erosion, the glacial erosion, especially during the great glaciations of the Quaternary (from 1.5 Ma) has had the most influence on the current geomorphology of the chain and the reserve. Glaciers grew and invaded the valleys, and then gradually unified to form a continuous ice sheet that completely covered the area. The nature of the rocks had a considerable influence on amount of glacial erosion. Most of soft rocks of Koli layer were quickly eroded while the rocks of the Seve layer were more resistant to erosion. Thus, the peaks of Stor-Aigert, as well as the Ammarfjället, Rerrogaise, Sulåive and Stubebakte mountain ranges currently consist of amphibolites and have steep reliefs. Similarly, the highest points of the Artfjället and Norra Storfjället mountain ranges consist largely of gabbros. The general direction of water flow also affects the relief: the layers tend to rise from west to east, which implies that the west-facing slopes are gentle in general, while the eastern slopes are often steep. The most visible signs of the glacial morphology are glacial valleys and U-valleys, such as Syterskalet, the top of the Vindelälven Valley, Skebleskalet, etc. There are also some forty small glacial craters or niches, most facing east, on the leeward side.
  When glaciers retreated at the end of the last ice age, the large ice sheet to the east often survived longer than that of the mountain valleys. As a result, several lakes were formed as the water was trapped between the mountains to the west and glaciers to the east. Lakes such as Marsivagge Lake at Tjulträsk and Tärnasjön Lake  have left alluvial terraces. For example, an alluvial terrace can be seen northwest of Tärnasjön at an altitude of about 700 m. The retreat of glaciers also spread moraines of different types in the landscape. Besides the terminal moraines, there is also an excellent example of Rogen moraine responsible for the archipelago south of Lake Tärnasjön. A well formed moraine over 3 km long can be seen on the west side of the valley Marsivagge; its origin is still not well understood. A few eskers can also be found in some areas of the reserve.
  The area of Artfjället - Övre Ältsvattnet is found outside of the glacial formations, and represents a karst topography. Besides the underground sinkholes and streams, the most remarkable feature of these karst formations are the caves, which are among the largest in Sweden .
caption: The valley of Syterskalet
exif: {"Image Make": "EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY", "Image Model": "KODAK CX6330 ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "230", "Image YResolution": "230", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "506", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "2684", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "3877", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/500", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2005:07:29 12:25:03", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2005:07:29 12:25:03", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "9", "EXIF ApertureValue": "5", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "29/10", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "28/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2032", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1354", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "2380", "EXIF ExposureIndex": "100", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "37", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Landscape", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}