What is the Baltic Shield beneath Finland?

The Baltic Shield, also known as the Fennoscandian Shield, is a large, stable area of the Earth's crust composed of ancient, resistant Precambrian crystalline rocks.1

Beneath Finland, this shield serves as the foundational bedrock. Because these rocks are ancient and resistant, the region's landscape is defined more by glacial erosion than by the glacial deposition seen in other parts of the European Plain. During the Pleistocene Epoch, continental glaciers scoured, polished, and planed these crystalline surfaces, resulting in a terrain characterized by thin soils, numerous lakes, and swamps. This geological composition makes the Finnish landscape similar in character to other heavily glaciated Precambrian Shield areas, such as northern and eastern Canada.2