Baltic Shield

Thought to be formerly part of an ancient continent, the Baltic Shield grew in size through collisions with neighbouring crustal fragments.

Through five successive Pleistocene glaciations and subsequent retreats, the Baltic Shield has been scoured clean of its overlying sediments, leaving expansive areas (most within Scandinavia) exposed.

The scouring and compression of the Baltic Shield by glacial movements created the area's many lakes and streams, the land retaining only a thin layer of sandy sediment collected in depressions and eskers.

The Baltic Shield yields important industrial minerals and ores, such as those of iron, nickel, copper and platinum group metals.

Currently, the Central Lapland Greenstone Belt in the north is considered to be an unexplored area that has the potential to hold exploitable gold deposits.

Recent exploration has revealed a significant number of diamond-bearing kimberlites in the Kola Peninsula, and (possibly extensive) deposits of gold in Finland.

[7] While Finland has remained buried[7] or very close to sea-level since the formation of the Sub-Cambrian peneplain, some further relief was formed by a slight uplift, resulting in the carving of valleys by rivers.

[13][14] The uplift of the Scandinavian Mountains resulted in the progressive tilt of northern Sweden, contributing to create the parallel drainage pattern of that region.

[8] The southern coast of Finland, Åland and the Stockholm archipelago were subject to considerable glacial erosion in the form of scraping during the Quaternary.