Kannesteinen is a three-and-a-half metre tall mushroom-shaped rock standing on the shore at Oppedal, about 10 kilometres from Måløy. It looks like it should not be able to stand up. The base is so thin and the top so heavy that it seems like a strong wave should knock it over, and yet it has been here for thousands of years.
The shape is the result of 10,000 to 12,000 years of wave erosion. The North Sea has been grinding away at the softer rock at the base while the harder top survived. The rock itself is eclogite, a type made of red garnet and green omphacite minerals that form deep in the Earth's crust. It is beautiful stone, but not very resistant to weather, which is exactly why the waves managed to carve it into this shape.
It is probably the most photographed rock in Norway, and one of those places that looks exactly like the pictures. There is a short walk from the parking area down to the shoreline. On a calm day the setting is almost peaceful. On a stormy day, with waves crashing around the base, you understand how the rock got its shape in the first place.
The shape is the result of 10,000 to 12,000 years of wave erosion. The North Sea has been grinding away at the softer rock at the base while the harder top survived. The rock itself is eclogite, a type made of red garnet and green omphacite minerals that form deep in the Earth's crust. It is beautiful stone, but not very resistant to weather, which is exactly why the waves managed to carve it into this shape.
It is probably the most photographed rock in Norway, and one of those places that looks exactly like the pictures. There is a short walk from the parking area down to the shoreline. On a calm day the setting is almost peaceful. On a stormy day, with waves crashing around the base, you understand how the rock got its shape in the first place.