This mountain landscape does not belong to the strandflat that we otherwise find remains of both out toward By Fjord and Sør Fjord. The area has only one narrow outflow by Flatevad and, in addition, lies roughly 30 metres too high. This landscape must have been formed in the same way as the Herlandsnesjane and shoreline along Lake Storavatnet on Osterøy Island: through frost shattering of the bedrock along the edge of first one, and then several lakes in "Åsanegryta" during the ice-free periods of the Ice Ages. When the glaciers covered Åsane, they carved out only a few small troughs along zones of weakness, and this created the lakes that are there today.
Langavatnet mot sør.
Langavatnet, Åsane (Svein Nord)
Lake Langavatnet, toward the south. (Svein Nord)
Åsane
PLATEAUS BETWEEN RIDGES
Most associate Åsane with ridges, naturally enough (the Norwegian word for "ridge" is "Ås"). A lesser noticed trait in the landscape are the unusual flat areas that lie between the ridges. The Dalselva River, which was channeled at the end of the 1950s, runs down only 2.5 metres from Lake Langavatnet by Vågsbotn to Flatevad, where it goes over into rapids by Fossekleiva. The layers of gneiss stand nearly vertically, and the mountain surface is so even that one might think it had been planed with a planer.
Geolog Inge Aarseth og assistent Bede Anele Nwosu nivellerer fjelloverflaten ved Liavatnet. (Karen Cecilie Lowzow)
Kart over Midtbygda i Åsane. Lysegrønt: områder mellom 86 og 100 moh. Profilet under markerer den jevne fjelloverflaten langs Dalselva. (Inge Aarseth/Eva Bjørseth)