[WIP] Unnamed

[davoush]

Thanks both. I will hopefully not need to change too much. I will probably make another version of the elevation map just to tidy it up, then climates and rivers. Then civilisations and languages can begin!

@Pixie, Thanks, I will keep that as the main endorheic lake. I may add a few exorheic lakes on the Eastern continent. I also need to figure out where would be plains and where would be forested. Is there anything I can read about to help me with this?

@Azelor, that is true! (I assume you meant the eastern continent - if the western one is boring, then the eastern one has no hope with only a few pitiful Andes mountains in the Far East!)

[Azélor]

Most areas with a humid climate and no agriculture will have a good forest cover.

Semi arid climate have savanna with open canopy or barely any trees since its a transition.

Desert can have grass, bushes and cacti forest.

Lastly, I'm not sure if Mediterranean climate is hume or closer to semi arid. I think it's like a transition between the two.

[davoush]

Thanks Azelor,

I am actually currently going through your climate tutorial which is very useful. I could do with a second opinion on my July and January pressure zone maps. (Currents and ITCZ are also included).

I am mostly unsure whether the north part of the Western would generate a big high/low pressure difference? The landmass itself is a bit bigger than North America and Canada together, but smaller than Asia. And it also runs more North-South, than East-West. I have made the pressure belts smaller than on the Eastern continent, but perhaps they shouldn't exist here at all?

Thanks.

(Edit: See updated maps)

[Azélor]

Is this the oceanic or the wind map?

In mid latitudes, the water should flow from west to east. Polar currents flow in the opposite direction.

[davoush]

Thanks - I got myself very confused somehow. It was a currents map, but also indicated air pressure before I actually draw the winds. This may have been too much information at once, sorry!

I have updated the currents but there are still a few areas I am unsure of:
a) Would the water in this more-or-less closed sea start from westwards and move back up to close the loop? Maybe with a bit 'escaping' (drawn in green) as it enters the main current?
b) Closing the loops with the polar currents was confusing me: as it flows westwards, can it move upwards as it hits eastern coasts?
c) This has created a few areas where currents are moving in opposite directions very close to each other. I don't know how likely this is? I'm not sure how to solve it otherwise, as unlike earth, there is no large landmass that far north. As the westerlies move across around 45, can part of this flow to the north to 'meet' the polar current as I have indicated?

Thanks again.

[Creativetides]

Great thread

[Pixie]

This is the Go-To visual source, in terms of currents. It's what I use all the time.

Ocean Currents 1943

[davoush]

@Creativetides - Thanks! It is certainly an (enjoyable) learning process.

@Pixie - That is a great resource. I spent a lot of yesterday evening trying to figure out the currents and I realised the main problem was that I don't have a lot of land above 50 north, so I couldn't use earth as a model. Having reworked it, I have realised that the circumpolar influence on both hemispheres is probably quite strong.

There are only a few remaining questions:
1) I imagine the polar current would be pulled down here creating a mini-current. This would be a very cold current.

2) I *think* this should be a split-off from the main equatorial current creating its own mini loops but I wasn't sure if it was more likely to just be one flow of the 'returning' equator-wards current?

3) I don't know if these islands are big enough to create their own loop? If they were, it would probably be part of the circumpolar current.

4) I think the polar current would be pulled upwards here but I am not sure.

Also, the circumpolar current in the north isn't as obvious because there is more land, so I haven't drawn it. It basically merges with the east-flowing current making it a bit colder in parts. Circumpolar is the light blue current in the Southern Hemisphere.

Many thanks for everyone's help, comments and criticism so far - immensely kind and helpful!

[Charerg]

Here's my take on it:



I didn't draw the neutral currents in a separate colour (instead the colour scheme resembles that used in the 1943 currents map, so all equatorwards currents and polar currents are drawn as cold, the rest as warm).

Anyway, remember that the currents typically form loops around a semi-permanent low or high pressure center, and the shape and even the exact location of these loops is affected heavily by the shape of the landmasses. You have a few instances with currents making very sharp turns that don't really make sense (the polewards flowing hot current in the "middle ocean" hooking around that peninsula being the obvious example, I guess). Aside from that, I think your version is pretty good (btw, I'm not saying that my version is the only 100% plausible one and you have to use it, this is just for demonstration purposes ).

Edit:
Oh, I also drew the equatorial countercurrents, btw. Those can be important too, especially with that near-closed sea close to the equator.

[Azélor]

I dont think there is a strong gyre in the north east polar sea.

B. Looks ok

C. I agree with what chareng did in the region. Its likely that the current will split in smaller ones.

1. The sea is more or less isolated with its own current but does exchange heat with the polar curewnt. I agree with the one you did.

2. The dominant winds would still be the westerelies i think.

3. Yes but only partially, see point c.

4. Yes it fills the void like on the NZ coast.