Look at the guideposts. Can you calculate how old you are when the ground has risen 40 cm?
Use your imagination, what will the scenery look like? Can you see the sea? Where is the coastline?
After the last glacial period, the land rises 0,8 cm per year in Kokkola, that is almost 1 cm per year!
During the last glacial period, an almost two-kilometer-thick ice sheet covered the earth’s crust. Two kilometers is as much as the hike along the nature trail from Villa Elba to Harrinniemi.
The weight of the ice sheet pressed the earth’s crust down about one kilometre. The thickness of the ice sheet varied through different periods; during warmer periods the ice sheet shrank and during colder periods it thickened. Under the pressure of its own weight, the ice sheet moved slowly, grinding the bedrock simultaneously.
Towards the end of the glacial period, approximately 10 000 years ago, the ice retreated and the crust started to rise to its initial level. The land uplift still continues to this day.