Raised beaches

The edge of the continental glacier retreated from Lapland westwards to Sweden about 10,000 years ago. Because the earth's crust under the ice sheet had been pushed into a hollow, most of South-west and Southern Lapland remained covered by the ancient Baltic lake called Ancylusjärvi. The isostatic uplift begun under the thinning ice sheet continued rapidly. It was quicker in the south-west than elsewhere in Lapland. The highest beach is on Vammavaara Hill south of Rovaniemi, at an altitude of some 219m above sea level. From there, it descends towards the north and east, and at the mouth of the Äkäsjoki River at Kolari, for example is only 168m above sea level.

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