A trip to southern Norway in August 2022

[Dunderdung]

At the end of August this year I travelled to Larvik in southern Norway to visit "Norges stein og mineralmesse". 

 

On my drive from Nässjö in Småland to Strömstad in Bohuslän i took a short detour to visit Taberg.

 

 

Taberg is a huge iron ore mountain consisting of Titanomagnetite-Ovlivinite which is only found in Taberg, Sweden and Rhode island, U.S.A. The ore body was created 1.2 billion years ago and has survived both a number of ice ages as well as several attempts of mining. Today the mountain is protected by law and during winter the old mine shafts house hundreds of bats. 

 

Being Smålands fifth highest peak it makes for a great view of lake Vättern. 

 

Further up north I made a short stop at Femstenaberg. This rest area is found just before the exit to Skee and is only accessible if travelling north on the E6 towards Oslo. 

Right next to the toilets are the subfossil remains of a Balaena mysticetus that was found 72 metres above today's sea level, during the construction of the new E6 highway. The remains are dated through the C14 method to be around 14000 years old.

 

Subfossil vertebrates are quite rare in Sweden, as far as i know you won't find one exhibited outside of a museum anywhere in Sweden except here. 

 

As the day was nearing its end I took the ferry from Strömstad to Sandefjord and got to enjoy the sun setting over the Oslo fields Syenites and Monzonites. 

 

[Dunderdung]

The following day I visited, roughly translated “Norway's stone and mineral show”. There were a few fossils but mostly amazing Norwegian mineral and crystal specimens. 

 

 

The double terminated quartz crystal on the image is around 15cm long and was found in Bardu.  

 

 

Here is an example of the classic rocket quartz with hematite roses from Tinnsjo.

 

 

This is what I ended up with. 

 

A Edmontosaurus annectens tooth stuck in matrix from Wyoming and a subfossil coral from a locality in southern Norway. 

 

I also bought a crystalline silver specimen from Kongsberg, terminated amazonites with schorl from Nordnorge and some amethyst from Stange.

 

 

I was also lucky enough to win these two in the lottery.

 

 

My next stop was Molen. This beach is part of the Ra morain that was left there during the end of the last ice age. The beach is made up of different pebbles from all over the region which has been used diligently for building burial mounds since the end of the bronze age. 

 

[Dunderdung]

The coming days were spent further inland near the mountains hiking and looking for new localities.  

 

Edited September 16, 2022 by Dunderdung

[Dunderdung]

On my way back home I stopped at Kongsberg to visit the Norwegian mining museum. Its amazing, what can i say.

 

 

Here are some goodies. They are all from the Kongsberg mining area.

 

 

 

For these two last images there was unfourtunatley no information. But i can make an educated guess and say that the first one is a Zircon crystal from Seiland and the largest single crystal i have ever seen.

 

 

The Anatase crystal on the left is almost 5cm and comes from Storenut, Odda. (I recognized it from a picture in the magazine Stein nr3 2016).

 

 

I also managed to make a short stop at Slemmestad to visit “Fossildalen” where you can find both trilobites and graptolites among others. 

 

 

My last detour took me to this rock carving just outside of Nordby in northern Bohsulän. While these carvings may not be fossils they do give us an idea of how fast our ecosystem has changed in only 5000 years. How some animals have completely disappeared from areas where they were once abundant. How fur trees were once so rare that they had to be documented while today its almost the other way around.

 

[Dunderdung]

Here are my finds from Fossildalen in Slemmestad.

 

Some sort of Asaphus?

 

 

 

[jpc]

Thanks for the nice show from a place we don't get to see very often on here.  

 

The Museum has a large pliosaur on it.  Did they many actual fossils of these and ichthyosaurs from Svalbard?  (I am assuming it is based on a Svalbard specimen).

 

[Dunderdung]

9 hours ago, jpc said:

Thanks for the nice show from a place we don't get to see very often on here.  

 

The Museum has a large pliosaur on it.  Did they many actual fossils of these and ichthyosaurs from Svalbard?  (I am assuming it is based on a Svalbard specimen).

 

 

The image is taken outside the mineral show in Larvik. I think its a blowuppliosaur, that has been to other shows aswell. 

 

While Kongsbergs museum only showcase minerals, Oslos museum of natural history might have some reptile material from Svalbard. The geology section was recently renovated and was only recently reopened. From what i have heard, its absolutely splendid!

[FranzBernhard]

Thanks for taking us along! I am an old Norway lover and have visited the south part of that country three times, last times in 2003. I like the combination of mountainous terrain, lots of running water, glaciers and the sea and fjords very much. Well, I have also collected a few mineral and rock specimens there.

Franz Bernhard

[Dunderdung]

6 hours ago, FranzBernhard said:

Thanks for taking us along! I am an old Norway lover and have visited the south part of that country three times, last times in 2003. I like the combination of mountainous terrain, lots of running water, glaciers and the sea and fjords very much. Well, I have also collected a few mineral and rock specimens there.

Franz Bernhard

They sure have it all!  Have you been to Sweden to?

[FranzBernhard]

8 minutes ago, Dunderdung said:

Have you been to Sweden to?

Yes, but not for long. Sweden is a more gently country, a little bit too gentle for my taste. I very well remember Smalands Taberg (because of the special ore there) and a randomly visited oak(?) forest in the south with highly impressive trees, in comparison with trees in typical Austrian forests. It was only a few minutes, but I can still very well remember that experience about 30 years ago.

Franz Bernhard

[Dunderdung]

On 9/17/2022 at 7:52 PM, FranzBernhard said:

Yes, but not for long. Sweden is a more gently country, a little bit too gentle for my taste. I very well remember Smalands Taberg (because of the special ore there) and a randomly visited oak(?) forest in the south with highly impressive trees, in comparison with trees in typical Austrian forests. It was only a few minutes, but I can still very well remember that experience about 30 years ago.

Franz Bernhard

 

Since late medieval times, oak trees have been protected by the crown as they were used for shipbuilding. The ownership eventually fell to the landowner during the 1800s but theres still some amazing trees left as you have witnessed. 

 

These are some true monster oaks to visit:

 

Rumskullaeken 

Ekebyhovseken

Trolleken

Tusenårseken