Switzerland used to be covered in fjords

New research shows Switzerland was once a land covered in fjords.

A team from the Swiss National Science Foundation says once right across the plain the Alps plunged into a huge lake. 

This was around 250,000 years ago when the ice age lifted. Scientists say they have the proof by examining subsoil below the city of Bern, which hides an underground valley. 

But there is a modern practical side. 

Surveyors are looking for a place to safely store nuclear waste. It has to be safe for at least a million years – which means making sure it won’t be dug up by glaciers in the next ice age. 

More from Bitesize News

  • Speed limit decrease in parts of Lausanne

    Several new streets in central Lausanne will drop to 30 kilometres per hour from 12 October, day and night, according to a letter the city has sent to affected residents

  • Population increase forecast for Vaud

    The population of canton Vaud will pass one million residents by 2046, according to new demographic projections released Friday

  • UBS share price increases

    UBS shares jumped more than 3% on the Swiss exchange on Friday after a US news outlet reported the bank is weighing a merger with a foreign rival and a move of its head office

  • Warmer than average end to the month

    Switzerland is heading into a summery final week of September, with temperatures forecast to climb into the late-20s this week

  • New CERN collider still under consideration

    Cross-border French communes near Geneva have laid down their conditions for Cern's proposed 90.7-kilometre particle collider, warning they will not sign off without guarantees

  • Citizenship remains one of the hardest on continent

    The Council of States has rejected a popular initiative that would have let foreigners apply for citizenship after just five years, closing the parliamentary door on the biggest attempt in years to loosen one of Europe's strictest naturalisation regimes

Download our app

  • Available on the App Store
  • Available on Google Play