Why does NW coast of Scotland look like it does? (Similar to Norway, so different to other European coastlines) When looking at a map of Europe, I always wonder why the North-West coast of Scotland has a very similar craggy outline to the NW coast of Norway. It is completely different to the smooth outline of the Eastern coast:



So my question is:

What are the geological reasons for the distinctive outline of Scotland's North-West coast?

Hopefully a full explanation would include answers to the following questions:


Why are they the same in Norway? (were they once joined together?)
Why are they so different on the Eastern coast?
These are actually a geological feature called "fjord" which the Scandinavian Peninsula and surroundings (including Scotland) are known for. It is the result of glacial erosion during the Ice Ages. See more info here: Fjord (Wikipedia).