Strandflat

Strandflat (Norwegian: strandflate) is a landform typical of the Norwegian coast consisting of a flatish erosion surface on the coast and the near coast sea bottom. Within Norway strandflats provide room for settlements and agriculture and constitute thus important cultural landscapes. Besides Norway proper strandflats can also be found in other high-latitude areas like Svalbard, Greenland, the South Shetland Islands, Alaska and western Scotland.

The strandflats are usually bounded landward by a sharp break in slope leading to mountainous terrain or high plateux. Seaward strandflats end at submarine slopes. The bedrock surface of strandflats is uneven and tilt gently towards the sea.

Strandflats are not fully flat an may display some local relief, meaning that is usually not possible to assign them an unique altitude. The Norwegian strandflats may go from 70-60 m a.s.l. to 40-30 m below sea level. The undulations in the strandflat relief may result in an irregular coastline with skerries, small embayments and peninsulas.

As with the height the width of the strandflat may also vary, going from a few kilometers to 50 km and occasionally reaching up to 80 km in width. From land to sea the strandflat can be subdivided in the following zones: the supramarine zone, the skjærgård (skerry archipelago) and the submarine zone. Residual mountains sorrounded by the strandflat are called rauker.

Landward the strandflat often terminates abruptly with the beginning of a steep slope that separates it from higher or more uneven terrain. Seaward the strandflat continues underwater down to depths of 30 to 60 meters where a steep submarine separates its from older low relief paleic surfaces. These paleic surfaces are known as bankflat and make up much of the continental shelf. At some locations the landward end the strandflat or the region slightly above contains relict sea caves partly filled with sediments that predates the Last glacial period. These caves lie near the post-glacial marine limit or above it.

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Wikipedia