Editing Nordland (section)

=== Geology ===
[[File:Englevingen.jpg|thumb|left|Inside Vikgrotta (cave) in [[Saltdal Municipality]]]]
[[File:Trollhatten-july08.jpg|thumb|[[Torghatten]], in [[Brønnøy Municipality]], with its characteristic hole. July 2008.]]
In the geological past, a collision with [[Greenland]] pushed long slices of the seabed on top of the existing bedrock, today forming the bedrock from [[Dovrefjell]] and [[Trollheimen]] south of [[Trondheim (city)|Trondheim]] stretching north in Trøndelag and through Nordland to just north of [[Tromsø (city)|Tromsø]]. This [[Cambrian]]—[[Silur]]ian bedrock, much of it [[mica]] [[schist]], is by far the largest area in Norway with soft bedrock rich in nutritions good for plant growth. It forms the bedrock in the fjord areas, while the islands off the coast and some of the easternmost areas along the border with Sweden are made up of hard bedrock (usually [[granite]]). In some areas, as in [[Hamarøy Municipality]] and [[Sørfold Municipality]], the bedrock is a mix of soft bedrock and hard granite. 

Much of the Lofoten mountains are of [[precambrian]] eruptive origin and 3.5 billion years old, among the oldest on earth. The youngest rock in Norway is on [[Andøya]], also known for its [[fossil]]s of [[dinosaur]]s and other life forms.  As the land was depressed by the [[ice sheet]] in the ice age, substantial areas in the lowest altitudes was beneath the surface of the sea for thousands of years acquiring marine deposits. Due to [[post-glacial rebound]], this is now dry land, reaching {{convert|120|m}} above sea level today in Saltdal, {{convert|100|m}} in [[Narvik (town)|Narvik]] and [[Brønnøysund]], and {{convert|30|m}} to {{convert|50|m}} in Lofoten and Vesterålen. [[Limestone]] is very common in Nordland, with many [[cave]]s<ref>{{Cite web |title=www.arctic-circle.no |url=http://www.arctic-circle.no/caves_nordland.htm |website=www.arctic-circle.no}}</ref> throughout the county, such as [[Grønligrotta]] in Rana. There are more caves in [[Rana Municipality]] than any other area in northern Europe. In August 2006 the [[Tjoarvekrajgge]] cave in [[Sørfold Municipality]] was explored and verified as the longest cave in [[Scandinavia]] {{convert|22|km}} long); [[Raggejavreraige]] in Tysfjord is the deepest in Scandinavia and Svarthamarhola in [[Fauske Municipality]] has the largest cavity. There are more than 900 caves in Nordland, one of these have a {{convert|70|m|adj=off}} high waterfall.<ref>{{Cite web |last=David |first=Heap |title=The caves of Nordland |url=https://eurekamag.com/research/020/300/020300456.php |url-access=subscription |access-date=May 2, 2023 |website=EurekaMag}}</ref> [[Marble]] is found in several locations. Fauske is sometimes referred to as the ''marble capital'', and has exported marble worldwide (one customer being the UN building in [[New York City]]).