Physical characteristics and palaeogeography of the Oulanka-Paanajärvi region on the Finnish-Karelian border

Abstract

The paper has two aims. Firstly, it provides a review of basic physiographic features of the Kuusamo Uplands and its "pearl" the Oulanka-Paanajärvi area, to serve the needs of all the later articles in this volume. Secondly, based on the previous papers and author's observations in Russian Karelia, the course of the highest shoreline is presented for both sides of the Kuusamo watershed. This is the first up-to-date illustration of the ancient shores of the White Sea and the Baltic on the same map, a question which has remained unresolved for about a hundred years, mainly due to the location of the area on the border between the East and the West.