Vidden

Åsane

Most associate Åsane with ridges, naturally enough (the Norwegian word for "ridge" is "Ås"). A lesser noticed trait in the landscape are the unusual flat areas that lie between the ridges. The Dalselva River, which was channeled at the end of the 1950s, runs down only 2.5 metres from Lake Langavatnet by Vågsbotn to Flatevad, where it goes over into rapids by Fossekleiva. The layers of gneiss stand nearly vertically, and the mountain surface is so even that one might think it had been planed with a planer.

The village of Etne

Much of the sand and gravel that the town of Etne is built on was laid down at the end of the Ice Age and is evidence of melting glaciers and roaring meltwater rivers. The uncompacted material in the big terraces leave their unmistakeable mark on the wide elongated valleys.

Etnedeltaet

During the latter half of the 1900s the big natural river deltas on Westland disappeared. Until the 1980s there was still a small, but significant remnant of the original river delta from the Etneelva river, but today most of this, too, is industrial land.

Langfoss

Skånevik- Norwegian engine museum

Skånevik- moraine

In Skånevik there are marks left from the ice edge that advanced during the thousand-year cold spell (Younger Dryas) that marked the end of the Ice Age roughly 11 500 years ago. The glacier first proceeded out into Åkra Fjordand and around Vannes and thereafter sent an arm in toward Skånevik. Here, the glacier lay down an end moraine up against the mountainside.

Krokavatnet

On Sunday the 29th of January, 1989, at 17:38 o'clock, Etna shook. The earthquake, with its epicentre ca. 9 kilometres south of Etne centre, had a strength of 4.2 on the Richters scale. This could be felt over large parts of West Land, especially in the areas around Åkra, Etne, Hardanger Fjord and Sauda Fjord. The earthquake was the largest that has ever been measured in Hordaland.

Isdalen

The valley on the inside of the Svartediks dam, a five minutes' bus ride from Bergen centre, is often referred to by Bergen folk as Isdalen ("Ice Valley") - justifiably, since the area could have been described in textbooks for its ice-carved land forms. The glacier's polishing over ca. 40 ice ages has created a magnificient landscape. The original ice valley climbs up behind Ulriken at the end of Svartediket.

Mosnes

The permanently-protected Mosneselva River, with its meltwater from Folgefonna, runs out into Åkra Fjord by the roadless and uninhabited Mosnes. Those who once lived here were forced to surrender to the ravages of Nature. In the autumn of 1962 there was a flood so great that the people were driven from their farms.