Skuleskogen National Park

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Skuleskogen National Park (Swedish: Skuleskogens nationalpark, literally The Skule Forest National Park) is a Swedish national park in Västernorrland County, on the coast of the Baltic Sea, in northern Sweden. It covers 30.62 km2 (11.82 mi2), constituting the eastern part of the Forest of Skule. The park is characterized by a very rough topology with many rocky peaks, of which the highest is Slåttdalsberget, 280 m (920 ft) in altitude, rising directly from the sea. The topography is also marked by the presence of deep crevasses and caves. This particular topology can be found throughout the entire High Coast (Swedish: Höga kusten), a region of Sweden so named because it constitutes the highest section of the coast of the Baltic Sea. This region is in our day principally known as a favoured site for the observation of the phenomenon of post-glacial rebound. Most of the region was under the sea less than 10,000 years ago, after the ice sheet that blanketed it melted. But thanks to the melting of this mass of ice that had been pressing down upon it, the ground is rising year by year, at a current speed of 8 mm (0.31 in) per year. Humans have left their mark upon the park, although they...

The national park takes its name from the forest of Skule, of which it constitutes the eastern part. The name Skuleskogen in Swedish means "the forest of Skule", the word Skule being common in the place names nearby, with for example Skuleberget ("mountain of Skule"), Skulesjön ("lake of Skule") or even the villages Skule and Skulnäs. However, there is a debate as to which toponym came first and was then transmitted to the others, as well as the meaning of this toponym.

A first hypothesis is that the name would have issued from the mountain Skuleberget, this being a point particularly notable in the landscape and one which would thus have been rapidly named. This name already appears in 1539 in the form Scyla mons and would derive from skjul meaning "hiding place", the famous cave in the mountain having been in the past a refuge for brigands. Another hypothesis is that the name would have come from the village of Skule; Skuleskogen thus being "the forest on the way to Skule" or "the forest which belongs to Skule", Skule being the village allowed to pasture animals in the forest. This last hypothesis does not imply that the mountain did not have a name before the village of Skule came into being; the original name would have been a name which one ought not to pronounce, as is true of many places in the country, another name not forbidden then coming into common usage and replacing the old one.

Skuleskogen National Park is in the municipalities of Örnsköldsvik and Kramfors, both of Västernorrland County, both in the historical Swedish province of Ångermanland. It is 27 kilometres (17 mi) south of the city of Örnsköldsvik and 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of the city of Kramfors, the respective capitals of the municipalities mentioned above. It covers a surface area of 3,062 hectares (7,570 acres) of which 282 hectares (700 acres) are maritime, the park stretching, in fact, along the coast of the Baltic Sea.

The park is included in the region called the High Coast, a zone of very rough relief, forming a joint valley landscape ( Swedish : sprickdalslandskap ): a landscape gouged by many small valleys formed by the erosion of fissures and faults in the bedrock. The High Coast is generally defined as the portion of the eastern coast of Sweden between the cities of Härnösand and Örnsköldsvik. The name of this region comes from the fact that it is the highest section of the coast of the Baltic Sea, numerous summits elevating themselves from the sea to attain altitudes of 200 to 250 metres (820 ft). This rugged terrain stretches even under the surface of the sea; so, it is in this region that one finds the deepest point of the Bothnian Sea, Ulvödjupet, with a depth of 293 metres (961 ft). The park itself covers the eastern part of the forest of Skule, characterized by a terrain forming a sort of wall separating the north and the south.

The topography of the park is characterized by these small valleys ( sprickdal ), some even taking the appearance of vertitable crevasses, the most impressive being Slåttdalskrevan (40 metres (130 ft) deep, 200 metres (660 ft) long, 8 metres (26 ft) wide), but also significant being Trollporten (the "Trolls' Door"), a small crevasse celebrated for the rock that rests across the top. Another characteristic element is the presence of many caves, although the most famous, Skulegrottan, in the mountain Skuleberget, is not inside the park. The park's highest peak is Slåttdalsberget, at 280 metres (920 ft) of altitude.

The national park is bathed in a subarctic climate (Dfc according to the Köppen classification). The maritime influence explains why its early summers are colder than they are farther inland, but its autumns are in contrast more mild. The topography causes important local variations. The climate is humid, with about 700 millimetres (28 in) of precipitation per year, of which more than a third in the form of snow, forming a snow cover lasting on average 175 days. Spring is the driest season, and in certain years this relative dryness has important consequences for the environment, especially because the thinness of the soil retains moisture poorly. In the regions acid rain most powerfully affected, surveys indicated that the situation is getting better, the pH of the precipitation gently increasing.

The nearest climate station to Skuleskogen National Park is in the village of Västmarkum, approximately 10 kilometers west. The station’s more inland and elevated (143 meters) positioning possibly renders the national park much milder, especially during late summer and early fall.

According to the Köppen climate classification, Skuleskogen National Park has a borderline subarctic climate ( Dfc ) with a notable dry-spring/early summer precipitation pattern. Extremes have ranged from 30.8 °C set during June 2020, to an all-time low of -26.4 °C from February 2018. The driest year was 2018 with 647 millimeters of precipitation whereas the wettest was 2020 when 1,061 millimeters of precipitation fell. The annual precipitation of almost 1000mm is by Swedish standards, especially east coast standards, very high. The high precipitation anomaly is largely due to the orographic lift effect owing to the adjacent hilly terrain of the High Coast. The precipitation is anticipated to further increase because of climate change. It is widely known that the region’s snow depth can vary depending on elevation and maritime influence from the Bothnian Sea. It is thus a high possibility the given snow depth data is skewed since it is measured 30 kilometers south of the Skuleskogen National Park, meaning that the park probably receives more snowfall.

Many streams run through the park, feeding many lakes. The principal lakes are Tärnättvattnen (7.9 hectares (20 acres)) and Stocksjön (6.1 hectares (15 acres)) belonging to the watershed of the streams Skravelbäcken and Långtjärnen (3.9 hectares (9.6 acres)), belonging to the watershed of the stream Nylandsbäcken. A non-negligible section of the park (125 hectares (310 acres)) is made up of fens.

Skuleskogen National Park is in the municipalities of Örnsköldsvik and Kramfors, both of Västernorrland County, both in the historical Swedish province of Ångermanland. It is 27 kilometres (17 mi) south of the city of Örnsköldsvik and 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of the city of Kramfors, the respective capitals of the municipalities mentioned above. It covers a surface area of 3,062 hectares (7,570 acres) of which 282 hectares (700 acres) are maritime, the park stretching, in fact, along the coast of the Baltic Sea.

The park is included in the region called the High Coast, a zone of very rough relief, forming a joint valley landscape ( Swedish : sprickdalslandskap ): a landscape gouged by many small valleys formed by the erosion of fissures and faults in the bedrock. The High Coast is generally defined as the portion of the eastern coast of Sweden between the cities of Härnösand and Örnsköldsvik. The name of this region comes from the fact that it is the highest section of the coast of the Baltic Sea, numerous summits elevating themselves from the sea to attain altitudes of 200 to 250 metres (820 ft). This rugged terrain stretches even under the surface of the sea; so, it is in this region that one finds the deepest point of the Bothnian Sea, Ulvödjupet, with a depth of 293 metres (961 ft). The park itself covers the eastern part of the forest of Skule, characterized by a terrain forming a sort of wall separating the north and the south.

The topography of the park is characterized by these small valleys ( sprickdal ), some even taking the appearance of vertitable crevasses, the most impressive being Slåttdalskrevan (40 metres (130 ft) deep, 200 metres (660 ft) long, 8 metres (26 ft) wide), but also significant being Trollporten (the "Trolls' Door"), a small crevasse celebrated for the rock that rests across the top. Another characteristic element is the presence of many caves, although the most famous, Skulegrottan, in the mountain Skuleberget, is not inside the park. The park's highest peak is Slåttdalsberget, at 280 metres (920 ft) of altitude.

The national park is bathed in a subarctic climate (Dfc according to the Köppen classification). The maritime influence explains why its early summers are colder than they are farther inland, but its autumns are in contrast more mild. The topography causes important local variations. The climate is humid, with about 700 millimetres (28 in) of precipitation per year, of which more than a third in the form of snow, forming a snow cover lasting on average 175 days. Spring is the driest season, and in certain years this relative dryness has important consequences for the environment, especially because the thinness of the soil retains moisture poorly. In the regions acid rain most powerfully affected, surveys indicated that the situation is getting better, the pH of the precipitation gently increasing.

The nearest climate station to Skuleskogen National Park is in the village of Västmarkum, approximately 10 kilometers west. The station’s more inland and elevated (143 meters) positioning possibly renders the national park much milder, especially during late summer and early fall.

According to the Köppen climate classification, Skuleskogen National Park has a borderline subarctic climate ( Dfc ) with a notable dry-spring/early summer precipitation pattern. Extremes have ranged from 30.8 °C set during June 2020, to an all-time low of -26.4 °C from February 2018. The driest year was 2018 with 647 millimeters of precipitation whereas the wettest was 2020 when 1,061 millimeters of precipitation fell. The annual precipitation of almost 1000mm is by Swedish standards, especially east coast standards, very high. The high precipitation anomaly is largely due to the orographic lift effect owing to the adjacent hilly terrain of the High Coast. The precipitation is anticipated to further increase because of climate change. It is widely known that the region’s snow depth can vary depending on elevation and maritime influence from the Bothnian Sea. It is thus a high possibility the given snow depth data is skewed since it is measured 30 kilometers south of the Skuleskogen National Park, meaning that the park probably receives more snowfall.

Many streams run through the park, feeding many lakes. The principal lakes are Tärnättvattnen (7.9 hectares (20 acres)) and Stocksjön (6.1 hectares (15 acres)) belonging to the watershed of the streams Skravelbäcken and Långtjärnen (3.9 hectares (9.6 acres)), belonging to the watershed of the stream Nylandsbäcken. A non-negligible section of the park (125 hectares (310 acres)) is made up of fens.

The principal rock of the park is the granite of Nordingrå, the park belonging to the Nordingrå massif. It consists of a rapakivi granite, formed about 1500 million years ago. It has a characteristic bright red color and erodes easily. To the north-east of the park, one can also find diabase, which was formed 1200 million years ago in the faults of the Nordingrå massif. Since granite forms a substrate very poor in nutrients, the diabase constitutes by contrast a very fertile terrain, which permits a richer vegetation.

The national park is traversed by several faults, like the rest of the High Coast. These faults were filled by deposits which marine erosion sometimes later removed. One of the most impressive examples of this phenomenon is Slåttdalsskrevan, east of the park : a crevasse of 40 metres (130 ft) depth and 200 metres (660 ft) width, which is one of the park's most visited sites. This crevasse was a fault filled by a vein of diabase, which was however eroded later, in part by the sea.

At the height of the last ice age, 20,000 years ago, the ice sheet, which covered all of Northern Europe, had its center in the sea near the High Coast. The ice's thickness attained 3 kilometres (1.9 mi), exerting significant pressure on the soil, which was thus situated 800 metres (2,600 ft) below the current level of the High Coast. When the ice melted, the soil rose progressively, a phenomenon called the post-glacial rebound, at a speed of 8 mm (0.31 in) per year. The zone was only freed of ice 9,600 years ago. As the land emerged from Lake Ancylus (ancestor of the Baltic Sea), the waves affected the terrain of today's park. The coastline of that era can now be found at an altitude of 285 metres (935 ft), measured from Skuleberget, southwest of the national park, which constitutes an absolute record. The peaks of the park were islands at that time. The ancient coastline is notably made visible by vegetation caps, which cover the areas not submerged after the retreat of the glaciers, explaining the name Kalottberg ("mountain cap") given to certain mountains of the region and the park. These vegetation caps had been able to install themselves since, at these places, the moraines were not eroded by waves, and they thus constituted a place where vegetation could attach.