How did glaciers create Norway’s fjords?

Norway’s iconic fjords were primarily created through the intense erosive power of glaciers during the Quaternary Period’s Great Ice Age.1

As massive glaciers moved through the landscape, they followed existing V-shaped river valleys, scouring and deepening them into characteristic U-shaped valleys. These glaciers were so heavy and thick—potentially reaching nearly 2,000 meters in depth—that they were able to erode the valley floors far below sea level.213

The erosive power was most intense closer to the glaciers' sources, which explains why many fjords are deeper in their middle and upper reaches than at their seaward ends. Once the ice melted, the rising sea levels flooded these deep, narrow glacial troughs, creating the drowned valleys known as fjords. Today, these features remain a defining characteristic of the Norwegian coast, often featuring steep walls that rise hundreds of feet above the water and depths that can exceed 1,300 meters.2431