Pressure release -- Pulpit Rock, Norway

Another example of spectacular pressure release following deglaciation.  These photos are of Pulpit Rock (Preikestolen) in Lysefjord, western Norway.  Here there is a vertical precipice which plunges down 604m to the fjord below.  The top photo was taken from the side, and the lower one shows the buttress from below.  The "pulpit" owes its origin to a rectilinear joint pattern in the rock -- this is obvious in the lower photo.

  Great rectangular slabs have already fallen away following "glacial unloading" -- and one day Pulpit Rock itself will go, much to the dismay of all those nutters with parachutes and paragliding equipment who habitually jump off it.