A product of ice and pressure
Preikestolen, or the Pulpit Rock, is a massive block of granite and gneiss rising 604 meters above the Lysefjord. Its remarkably flat top, a near-perfect square of approximately 25 by 25 meters, is the result of immense geological forces. The cliff was sculpted during the last ice age, around 10,000 years ago. As a colossal glacier that filled the fjord melted, the immense pressure on the underlying rock was released.
This depressurization caused the rock mass to fracture in a process called exfoliation or pressure-release jointing. Water seeped into these new crevices, froze, and expanded—a phenomenon known as frost shattering. This powerful wedging action broke off huge, angular blocks that were then carried away by the retreating glacier, leaving behind the sheer cliffs and the plateau seen today. The deep fissure that currently defines the plateau is from this geological formation.
Monitoring a slow separation
A deep, half-meter-wide crack that runs parallel to the cliff edge has been studied by geologists since the 1930s. This fissure separates the main tourist-trodden platform from a massive block of the mountainside. The Geological Survey of Norway (NGU) actively monitors this crack to detect any changes in its width.
Early monitoring involved installing simple bolts on either side of the gap to measure any extension. More recently, these methods have been supplemented with modern techniques, including high-resolution aerial photography, ground-based LiDAR scanning, and the creation of 3D models to perform detailed stability analyses. In 2017, measurements indicated the gap had widened by 2-3 millimeters, the first recorded change in over two decades. While current data suggests a slow, continuous movement, geologists have concluded the formation is stable and is not an immediate threat. The crack itself does not extend all the way through the rock mass. Though the block will inevitably fall, this event will likely take centuries or millennia in the future.