高海岸_瓦尔肯群岛

高海岸位于波的尼亚湾西海滨，是波罗的海向北延伸的一部分。这片海岸面积为142 500公顷，其中80 000公顷为海洋部分，有大量的近海群岛。由于冰河作用、冰川消融及海面新陆地抬升的共同作用，形成了该地区一系列的湖泊、海湾和高达350米的低丘等不规则地形。自9 600年前冰川从高海岸最后消融以来，陆地抬升最高达285米，这就是著名的“反弹”。高海岸遗址为认识地球表面冰冻和陆地抬升区域形成的重要过程提供了极好的机会。 “瓦尔肯群岛”（2006年加入到世界遗产的高海岸项目中）有5 600个群岛和小岛，总面积194 400公顷（15%为陆地，85%为海洋）。地面主要为10 000至24 000年前大陆冰层融化形成的不规则脊状延伸的洗衣板冰碛，“DeGreer冰碛”。在冰川快速均衡抬升过程中，小岛不断地从海面升起，原来被冰川压迫而下沉的大陆，逐渐以世界最快的速度抬升。海岸线不断推进，岛屿慢慢形成并连结在一起，半岛也在扩张，湖泊由海湾演变而来，继而成为块状沼泽与湿地。瓦尔肯是研究地壳均衡现象的“典型区域”；人们正是从此地开始认识并研究这种现象的。

The Kvarken Archipelago (Finland) and the High Coast (Sweden) are situated in the Gulf of Bothnia, a northern extension of the Baltic Sea. The 5,600 islands of the Kvarken Archipelago feature unusual ridged washboard moraines, ‘De Geer moraines’, formed by the melting of the continental ice sheet, 10,000 to 24,000 years ago. The Archipelago is continuously rising from the sea in a process of rapid glacio-isostatic uplift, whereby the land, previously weighed down under the weight of a glacier, lifts at rates that are among the highest in the world. As a consequence islands appear and unite, peninsulas expand, and lakes evolve from bays and develop into marshes and peat fens. The High Coast has also been largely shaped by the combined processes of glaciation, glacial retreat and the emergence of new land from the sea. Since the last retreat of the ice from the High Coast 9,600 years ago, the uplift has been in the order of 285 m which is the highest known rebound. The site affords outstanding opportunities for the understanding of the important processes that formed the glaciated and land uplift areas of the Earth''s surface.

自然遗产


国别	瑞典 Sweden 芬兰 Finland
中文名称	高海岸_瓦尔肯群岛
英文名称	High Coast / Kvarken Archipelago
遗产类别	自然遗产
登录年份	2000,2006
选入标准	(viii)