| Styggforsen | |
|---|---|
 The upper cascade of Styggforsen waterfall | |
 | |
| Location | Dalarna, Sweden |
| Coordinates | 61°00′00″N15°11′00″E / 61.00000°N 15.18333°E |
| Total height | 36 metres (118 ft) |
| Watercourse | Styggforsån |
Styggforsen is a waterfall and a nature reserve in Dalarna County, Sweden. It is part of the European Union-wide Natura 2000 network. [1]
The waterfall is located in the village of Boda, 20 kilometres to the north of Rättvik. It lies at the eastern edge of the Siljan Ring, [2] a prehistoric impact crater which was formed 377 million years ago during the Devonian period when a meteorite struck the Earth's surface. [3] The bolide was estimated to be about 4 kilometres in diameter and was travelling at around 100,000 kilometres per hour, causing a vertical realignment of the horizontal rock strata and a depression of the bedrock upon collision. This had a profound effect upon the local environment, creating many of the geological features which exist to this day such as Lake Siljan to the south-west and Styggforsen.
The river Styggforsån is interrupted by the waterfall which is 36 meters high and composed of a column of Ordovician limestone. The base of the waterfall abuts a dike of brecciated quartz which is believed to predate the impact event. [4] The site is popular with tourists and it is encompassed by a circular path of about one kilometre that leads down to a cave called Troll Hole. A cafe is open during the summer time and there is also an information centre nearby.
In 1979, a nature reserve approximately 12 hectares in size was established around the waterfall, and in 2005 it was incorporated into the Natura 2000 network. [1] Its moist climate is favoured by many lichens, mosses and plants, such as the rare orchid Epipactis atrorubens which grows there. [5] It also provides a habitat for many species of insects which include Venusia cambrica , Hyloicus pinastri and Epirrhoe alternata . [6] Picking flowers and doing anything to affect the environment is forbidden within the confines of the nature reserve.
Ingmar Bergman's film, The Virgin Spring, used Styggforsen as one of its locations. [7]
An impact crater is a circular depression in the surface of a solid astronomical object formed by the hypervelocity impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal collapse, impact craters typically have raised rims and floors that are lower in elevation than the surrounding terrain. Lunar impact craters range from microscopic craters on lunar rocks returned by the Apollo program and small, simple, bowl-shaped depressions in the lunar regolith to large, complex, multi-ringed impact basins. Meteor Crater is a well-known example of a small impact crater on Earth.
A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical interactions with the atmospheric gases cause it to heat up and radiate energy. It then becomes a meteor and forms a fireball, also known as a shooting star; astronomers call the brightest examples "bolides". Once it settles on the larger body's surface, the meteor becomes a meteorite. Meteorites vary greatly in size. For geologists, a bolide is a meteorite large enough to create an impact crater.
Rättvik Municipality is a municipality in Dalarna County in central Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Rättvik.
Siljan, in Dalarna in central Sweden, is Sweden's seventh largest lake. The cumulative area of Siljan and the adjacent, smaller lakes Orsasjön and Insjön is 354 km2 (137 sq mi). Siljan reaches a maximum depth of 134 m (440 ft), and its surface is situated 161 m (528 ft) above sea level. This renders the lowest point of the basin at 27 metres (89 ft) above sea level. The largest town on its shore is Mora.
The Dal River is a river in central Sweden that flows from the north of Dalarna and runs into the sea in northern Uppland; it is commonly considered to be the southern border of Norrland, however only the last part correlates with Limes Norrlandicus. The northern part is split into two rivers: Österdalälven and Västerdalälven. The two connect in Djurås. It is over 520 kilometres (320 mi) long — the second longest river in Sweden, and has a hydropower potential of 1420 megawatts, of which 2/3 is utilized. The largest power plant is located at the Trängslet Dam. Dalälven has been significant historically as a raft transport route. Nedre Dalälven River Landscape, Sweden, covers 308,000 hectares (1,190 sq mi) with a mixture of wetlands, rivers, lakes, flood plains and productive forests. It includes Lake Hovran and Färnebofjärden Bay Ramsar site.
The Araguainha crater or Araguainha dome is an impact crater on the border of Mato Grosso and Goiás states, Brazil, between the villages of Araguainha and Ponte Branca. With a diameter of 40 kilometres (25 mi), it is the largest known impact crater in South America.
The Kentland structure, also known as the Kentland crater or the Kentland disturbed area, is an impact structure located near the town of Kentland in Newton County, Indiana, United States.
Woodleigh is a large meteorite impact crater (astrobleme) in Western Australia, centred on Woodleigh Station east of Shark Bay, Gascoyne region. A team of four scientists at the Geological Survey of Western Australia and the Australian National University, led by Arthur J. Mory, announced the discovery in the 15 April 2000 issue of Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
Orsa is a locality and the seat of Orsa Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden, with 5,308 inhabitants (2010). It is located in the northern part of lake Siljan, about 15 kilometres north of the town Mora. Inlandsbanan and European route E45 run through the town and the railroad Bollnäs-Orsa connects.
Mora is a locality and the seat of Mora Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 10,896 inhabitants in 2010.
The Muogamarra Nature Reserve is a protected nature reserve that is located in the Sydney region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The 2,274-hectare (5,620-acre) reserve is situated in the northern edge of Sydney and lies between the suburb of Cowan to the south, and the Hawkesbury River to the north.
Henbury Meteorites Conservation Reserve is a protected area in the Northern Territory of Australia located in the locality of Ghan.
The Siljan Ring is a prehistoric impact crater in Dalarna, central Sweden. It is one of the 15 largest known impact craters on Earth and the largest in Europe, with a diameter of about 52 kilometres (32 mi). The impact that created the Siljan Ring occurred when a meteorite collided with the Earth's surface during the Devonian period. The exact timing of the impact has been estimated at 376.8 ± 1.7 Ma or at 377 ± 2 Ma. This impact has been proposed as a cause of the first Devonian extinction, the Kellwasser Event or Late Frasnian extinction, due to it being believed by some researchers to coincide around the time of the Kellwasser event at 376.1 Ma ± 1.6 Ma, although the timing of this extinction event has since been pushed forward to 371.93–371.78 Ma. The effects of the impact can clearly be seen in the bedrock in the area. The Cambrian, Ordovician and Silurian sedimentary rocks deformed by the impact are rich in fossils.
Complex craters are a type of large impact crater morphology.
not to be confused with the Geologiska föreningen
The Folkeslunda Limestone is a thin limestone and mudstone geologic formation of Sweden. The formation crops out on the island of Öland to the east of Kalmar, where Folkeslunda is located. Other exposures of the formation are in Dalarna, Jämtland and Östergötland. The Folkeslunda Limestone was deposited in an open marine environment with an estimated water depth of 150 to 200 metres in a eustatically transgressive phase.
Hällingsåfallet is a waterfall and a nature reserve in Jämtland County in Sweden. It is part of the European Union-wide Natura 2000 network.
In early 2018 there were eight known impact craters in Sweden. They range in age from 90 mya to 470 mya, and in diameter from 1 km to 52 km. Six of them are exposed, that is they are visible at the surface, in the natural landscape, although their nature and origin might need to be pointed out to the untrained layman.
Möckeln is a lake in Karlskoga and Degerfors Municipalities in Örebro County, Sweden.