Editing Scandinavian Peninsula (section)

==Geology==
The Scandinavian Peninsula occupies part of the [[Baltic Shield]], a stable and large crust segment formed of very old, [[Crystal#Rocks|crystalline]] [[metamorphic rock]]s. Most of the soil covering this substrate was scraped by glaciers during the [[Ice age|Ice Age]]s of antiquity, {{citation needed span|text=especially in northern Scandinavia, where the Baltic Shield is closest to the surface of the land.|date=January 2017}} As a consequence of this scouring, the [[elevation]] of the land, and the cool-to-cold [[climate]], a relatively small percentage of its land is [[arable land|arable]].<ref name="Hobbs">Hobbs, Joseph J. and Salter, Christopher L.''Essentials Of World Regional Geography'', p. 108.Thomson Brooks/Cole.2005.{{ISBN|0-534-46600-1}}</ref>

The [[glaciation]] during the Ice Ages also deepened many of the river valleys, which were invaded by the sea when the ice melted, creating the noteworthy [[fjords]] of Norway. In the southern part of the peninsula, the glaciers deposited vast numbers of [[terminal moraine]]s, configuring a very chaotic landscape.<ref name="Ostergren">Ostergren, Robert C., Rice, John G. ''The Europeans''. Guilford Press. 2004.{{ISBN|0-89862-272-7}}</ref> These terminal moraines covered all of what is now Denmark.

Although the Baltic Shield is mostly [[geology|geologically]] stable and hence resistant to the influences of other neighbouring tectonic formations, the weight of nearly four kilometres of ice during the Ice Ages caused all of the Scandinavian terrain to sink. When the ice sheet disappeared, the shield rose again, a tendency that continues to this day at a rate of about one metre per century.<ref name="Ostergren"/> Conversely, the southern part has tended to sink to compensate, causing flooding of the [[Low Countries]] and Denmark.

The crystalline substrate of the land and absence of soil in many places have exposed mineral deposits of metal [[ore]]s, such as those of [[iron]], [[copper]], [[nickel]], [[zinc]], [[silver]] and [[gold]]. The very most valuable of these have been the deposits of [[iron ore]] in northwestern Sweden. In the 19th century these deposits prompted the building of a [[Rail transport|railway]] from northwestern Sweden to the Norwegian [[seaport]] of [[Narvik]] so that the iron ore could be exported by ship to places like southern Sweden, Germany, Great Britain and Belgium for smelting into iron and steel. This railway is in a region of Norway and Sweden that otherwise does not have any railways because of the very rugged terrain, mountains and [[fjord]]s of that part of Scandinavia.