New Planet Unnamed - Realistic Sci Fi Universe

[Schyzm]

Actually, Hai-Etlik makes a good point there. If you're planet doesn't have as much tectonic movement, that might make your coastlines smoother even than Earth's. Maybe. I could be wrong.

So, that's really going to depend on how the major tectonic events lifted crust up. was there enough continental drift to actually create mountain building events? or are we looking at a no-plates scenario where all of the higher regions were formed by volcanic activity? In terms of coastline, rather than tectonic events, we can also have periods of interglaciation causing deep rifts in existing rock (think Norway and BC, for instance ). Also - does it have a moon? Tidal influences could matter, depending on the gravitational pulls involved (a 10-meter daily tide would do a LOT of weathering). Given how much water there is, there will be a lot of rainfall all over the place, and while you'll still have to deal with rain shadows, I'd more worry about hurricanes slamming into coastal areas on a regular basis.

Since the world is about 80% covered in water, the orbital eccentricity and planetary inclination will matter from a seasonal perspective, as well as the distance of this planet from its star, will matter a great deal when it comes to the types of weather that it has - as a rule, further out is colder, but with such extreme oceans, it could conceivably be further out and still have a decent temperature.

Also, Having high mineral content at the surface without tectonic activity is going to be tough, since unless they are forcibly thrust up through volcanic or mountain building events, heavy minerals are going to sink.


I think to help out here, we need some story details.