Demus Ragnok Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 I'm trying to draw a picture in words of my DIY's homeworld. And would like some input please. Thus far I have a earth like planet with a single continent. This continent has a rather large body of water near its center. What I would like help with is, given the above, what would weather patterns and geography on this continent be like. I think there should be mountains, grasslands, forests and scrub desert but were would these features be in relation to the coasts and the inland sea/great lake. I would like to have some idea of these features so I can work out some things about my chapter's culture and practices of recruiting and such. Thanks for any input fellow liberites. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/271020-of-planets-and-weather/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firepower Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 Pretty hard to figure without a background in meteorology and geography. But if the central water supply is self sustaining (not a product of tributaries) it would have to be pretty large. At a guess, trapping that water and preventing it from escaping the region as vapor would require a pretty comprehensive ring of mountain ranges. Outside of that perimeter would likely be fairly dry, at least until nearing the coast. So, thinking of it in terms of concentric circles, from the inside outward it would go water, forest/marsh, grassland, mountains, desert, beaches. It shouldn't be so uniform though, like some giant dart board. Temperature and climate play a big part in the nature of the landscape, too. So what I laid out should be regarded as a loose outline at most. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/271020-of-planets-and-weather/#findComment-3301118 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uaronain Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 Yea this is based on a freshman level class I took inuniversity years ago ;) Does you planet have a tilted axis like earth? This is whatgives us seasonal weather. In a nutshell, the vertical rays of the sun strikethe equator, here in north America we call it summer when the northernhemisphere is tilted towards the sun, and we get winter when the southernhemisphere is tilted towards the sun. More extreme weather patterns happen further inland in “continentalareas” coastal areas tend to have more moderate weather than continental areasas the ocean has an effect of the climate. Much like my brother templar said earlier, the side of themountain facing the ocean would be called the windward side and would have anocean type condition and the other side of the mountain the leeward side wouldbe much drier. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/271020-of-planets-and-weather/#findComment-3301236 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Apostle Thirst Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 Don't overthink it. I once created an oceanic homeworld which featured two moons producing an annual planetwide tsunami and everyone bought it. So just go for whatever idea you have ^.^ Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/271020-of-planets-and-weather/#findComment-3301323 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Messor Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 DAT, You say that like we won't be hearing from the Kraken's again Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/271020-of-planets-and-weather/#findComment-3301492 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Apostle Thirst Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 They're slumbering in the depths of my mind. Don't worry about them, they will rise when the call comes and the Iron Gauntlet is laid down ;) Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/271020-of-planets-and-weather/#findComment-3302596 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother_Kovasir Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 Again, as <strong>DAT</strong> stated; I think you're over thinking it.<br /><br />Think of Lake Michigan its only got a few mountains that are in range of it(aka 100-200miles or less). So you really don't need a bowl shape, if you want something perfectly round (or close to it) say an asteroid hit it several million years ago. If you want natural you could have a plain on one side and a mountain on the other and you're good. In all reality you could argue anything you want in regards to the shape, and local area. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/271020-of-planets-and-weather/#findComment-3302754 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deffrolla Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 Some thoughts... Is the continent surrounded by water? How much of the surface of the world is covered by the continent? How much of the continent is taken up by the inland sea? Has the continent got any mountains? If so what created them? Hint, there are two ways this could go... 1) You could have had two continents that collided (due to continental drift) and the crash raised a mountain chain along the borders where they collided. This will be like the Himalayas, high, rugged, no volcanoes. If this was a long time ago the mountains may have eroded and now are more like a range of high hills. 2) You only ever had one continent and continental drift (that again!) forces the ocean floor on one side of the continent to be pushed under the edge of the continent causing a range of mountains to form along that edge of the continent. This will be like the Rockies, and will also mean you get a lot of earthquakes and volcanoes. If the prevailing wind comes across the ocean and has to cross the mountains to get to the rest of the continent then behind the mountains will likely be a lot of desert. 2b) You can have sea floor sinking under the continent in two or three zones. This would make the continent vaguely bowl-shaped. Rivers from the inland sides of these mountain ranges may all drain into an inland sea. The continent might be quite dry and desert-like except around the edges (where all the volcanoes and earthquakes happen). If the inland sea has an outlet to the ocean then it is really a lake and will have fresh water. If it doesn't then evaporation will be the only way the water can escape, and this will make the water very brackish or salty (think Red Sea) and not much use for anything, and the land around it would be absolutely useless for farming. Again you would have your people living around the edges of the continent, suffering earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, and food shortages, so they may well farm the ocean in some way. Alternately the inland sea could be a rift valley (so hot springs, volcanic islands, and probably poisonous water) or as already mentioned by somebody else it could be a meteor crater. Either one of these could be used in combination with the water draining in from the mountains, or the meteor strike could have weakened the planet's crust allowing all that continental drift to start pulling the continent apart, causing the crater to become a rift valley (as well as having the water from the mountains drain into it.... that sea could be extraordinarily unpleasant... perhaps it even contains high concentrations of some useful minerals so is lethal but really valuable). OK, I enjoyed that. Bet none of it fits with your ideas. Never mind, I might stick a planet like that in my own Sector one day. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/271020-of-planets-and-weather/#findComment-3303188 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demus Ragnok Posted February 17, 2013 Author Share Posted February 17, 2013 Thanks for the input guys all this has been really helpful. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/271020-of-planets-and-weather/#findComment-3307083 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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