Terraformed Venus

[ascanius]

Your map is very interesting so far. There are a few areas I would have done differently but this mostly concerns micro currents among the archapelegos. I however did notic that your polar currents need some work. For example, the ocean east of Telius, that west coast should be a warm current going south, the black current lines ( >45 degrees) for both poles are the wrong direction and should be traveling west not east. One thing that helps is to overlay your hot cold pressure systems over the ocean currents to get a better idea of how things line up, ocean currents follow the high low pressure systems of the atmosphere.

I did a quick paint over to show you what I mean.

SypherionSmall1.png

Hope that didn't confuse you.

[acrosome]

Really? I was using this and this as sources for polar currents- they show the Antarctic circumpolar currents as being eastward at 60S, though, yes, I had to try to account for the Ishtar and Lada continents being in the way. (Are you looking at subpolar currents? These are indeed westward.)

I see what you mean about the splitting of currents into a warm poleward and cold equatorward branch, especially on that second map I linked- I'll work on that. I do have something like that around Beta, though I represented it as a very weak southbound current, but you're right I could do a better job around Tellus. Clearly I shouldn't have that northbound cold current there. Mostly, though, I have to be sure that I have the direction of the circumpolar currents correct, since that will affect a lot. Yes, on Earth that splitting occurs in the southern hemisphere and the southern split joins the 60S circumpolar current, but that circumpolar current isn't a westward countercurrent- it is eastward. If I take southern Earth as my model than the currents you changed arounf Tellus should be more like the currents you added south of Beta- eastward. Or am I missing something?

Likewise, regarding the minor gyre between Xartanga and Lada- why did you switch the direction? Are you thinking of Hadley cells?

Or, maybe I should just make both of my poles more like Earth's northern pole, with smaller current "lobes" but no true circumpolar current. Is that what you mean? I'm finding the polar currents rather frustrating. But I want to get this as "good" as I can make it before I proceed further. (Thank God that since I'm working from real data I don't have to mess around with tectonics. I might have an apoplexy.)

I'll play around in GIMP when I get home.