WIP Unnamed World Map

[davoush]

Hello,

You might remember my recent WIPs where I tried to make realistic tectonic models for my world map. Although this process taught me a lot (also thanks to Pixie, Charerg, and others!), I just couldn't make my map "goals" fit with the tectonics. So, I have decided to put aesthetics above realism for tectonics as there are several things I specifically wanted on this map, which I hope to eventually use as a setting for my languages and stories.

I wanted all the land to be reachable without advanced navigation, hence the many island chains. I also wanted a large area with a Mediterranean-like sea and climates. That said, I still hope the land shapes and elevations etc. hint at a somewhat plausible tectonic model, but I won't be trying to fit the pieces together in any detail for this map.

I do, however, want to make a (semi) realistic climate map. It would also be excellent if someone could take a quick look at my currents map - there are some areas I'm not 100% sure about.

Landmasses:



Rough draft of mountains/elevation:


The huge plateau-like area in the central continent is supposed to be quite old and eroded. Would this lead to a South-Africa type of elevation in this area?

Currents:

[Jean-Abdel]

It depends on what type of plateau it is: shield volcanic like the Tibesti or Hoggar, rift like the Ethiopian plateau, orogenic like Tibet and altiplano? Drakensberg is basically an old rift valley that led to the formation of the Atlantic an Indian oceans. It also depends on how high it was and how old it is, it's hard to say withour more precise informations, but almost anything between 4000m and 0 is feasible, if you don't get to much into geological history.

[Azélor]

So, I have decided to put aesthetics above realism for tectonics as there are several things I specifically wanted on this map, which I hope to eventually use as a setting for my languages and stories.

Sounds good to me. Realism shouldn't get too much in the way of the storytelling.

The huge plateau-like area in the central continent is supposed to be quite old and eroded.

How old? Old and eroded might look more like the Canadian shield for example. The average altitude is not high, for a plateau.

It would also be excellent if someone could take a quick look at my currents map - there are some areas I'm not 100% sure about.

It looks alright. Except the missing polar current in the north which is not really important since there is no land in the area.

[davoush]

Thank you both - it is meant to be fairly old and is orogenic in origin - maybe now roughly half the height of the Tibetan plateau? I will check out the Canadian shield.

I have tried to mark the areas likely to be arid/desert, similar to this map Charerg once showed me: https://www.cartographersguild.com/a...0&d=1524299936

I am hoping most of the pseudo-mediterranean area in the West can have a mostly Med climate, although I'm not sure how realistic that is going to be.

[davoush]

Played with the landmasses a little bit and have tried to make a July pressure/winds map. Any feedback/critique would be great as I hope to start climates once I have both Jan/July pressure maps.

[Robulous]

I really appreciate your scientific approach to world-building! Climate is super important to the culture and landscape of any world.

[Jean-Abdel]

The pressure map is fine but you should extend the low above the big continent and there will probably not be any high above the "mediterranean", the influence of the big continent next to it is too strong, look at what happens to the real life mediterranean sea. The area you marked with an arrow will be under westerlies' influence like Scandinavia. You will have a huge low above your plateau similar to Tibet.

[davoush]

Thank you, Jean Abdel. That makes sense. I have updated the map accordingly and also included one for January.

I have put together a very rough Koppen climate map, although many details are missing. I just want to get an idea of the rough climate zones.

I have some questions which you or more knowledgable people may be able to help with:

1) I *think* most of this part will be Csa > Csb > Cfb, based on the pressure to East and the Westerlies dominating in the northern parts. The southern parts will be more arid because if I understand correctly, high pressure winds blowing towards equator are very dry.

2) I think the East-coast will be China-like, that is Cfa. But I am unsure about the interior. It seems like it would be dry in winter, so maybe Cwa? It also looks like there is an abrupt change from Rainforest to semi-arid desert - I did this because the Plateau creates a rain shadow to the north, blocking the monsoonal winds.

3) This is largely the same question as 2).

4) The interior seems like it will be dry in winter, but I am unsure about summer

5) It seems to be mostly winds blowing from high pressure across this continent, but I am not sure if the East coast might be a bit wetter?

Thanks!

[Charerg]

Rough draft of mountains/elevation:


The huge plateau-like area in the central continent is supposed to be quite old and eroded. Would this lead to a South-Africa type of elevation in this area?

Looks like a great start so far, and good to see you back, davoush!

As far as the climates go, you seem to be off to a good start, the pressure maps especially look spot on (I might give some actual feedback later on when I've looked at the suggested climates a bit more closely). However, as a bit of geological trivia, I thought I'd mention that the elevations of South and East Africa are largely the result of ongoing rifting. More specifically, geothermal heating associated with rifting reaches its peak in crust about to be rifted, and since warmer rocks are less dense than cold ones, they rise up relative to their surroundings. The Kalahari plateau used have more normal elevations back in the Miocene (~20-5 Mya), about 600-500 metres according to wikipedia.

That said, some of the mountain chains of southern Africa do have orogenic origins, but they're extremely ancient, dating to the Pan-African Orogeny (~600-550 Mya), and basically represent ancient orogens that have been rejuvenated. The Great Escarpment itself is not orogenic though, it represents the wall of the ancient rift valley between Africa and Antarctica (it's also worth noting that the escarpment has retreated ~150 km inland due to erosion from its initial position at the coastline).

[davoush]

Thank you Charerg - The plateau I was referring to will have been caused by a Tibetan Plateau style orogeny, however I am unsure exactly how this would look once quite eroded.

Some further context - I want the overall climate to be more similar to the Holocene Climatic Optimum, rather than today's climate, so hopefully that will mean less desert and more 'liveable' conditions over a wider area. It is also probably a bit wetter, which would explain why large parts of continents seem to be 'submerged'. Still, I'm not too concerned about the feasibility of land shapes for the purposes of this map.

I have updated the currents map but I am unsure of 1) and 2).

1) I included a passage of warm water which meets with the colder current to the north, resulting in a mild current perhaps moderating the coastal temperatures in that area? I'm not sure how plausible that is, however.

2) The current doesn't seem to form a loop here as it's driven by the Westerlies - is this OK?

Of course if you spot any other problems please do mention them.



Thanks!