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Thread: Regional shapes and geography

  1. #1
    Guild Apprentice MTGEmperor's Avatar
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    Question Regional shapes and geography

    I have been working on my CC3 for the longest time and it has helped me for so long. However, I am nearing the end of my rope on a certain land type.

    I have asked about deserts, canyonloands, and even small regions. For the first time, I am dealing in an area I just cannot seem to get the land right.
    Some of you know that I write short stories for personal enjoyment as well as an extremely limited audience. I draw these maps so I can set my story correctly.

    In this latest story, I am dealing with a limestone jungle location. A fairly large location with natural canals, large jungle trees, and a few islands to say the lest. Think of the region as a larger location of RE (Real Earth) Ha Long Bay.
    Since limestone is originally a coral reef, I can't think of a prominent shape.

    My question is this:
    What is the best overall shape for a limestone jungle prior to erosion? And what shape would it be after 4,000 years of erosion?

  2. #2
    Guild Adept loogie's Avatar
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    no idea... tho that's a very cool place

    first... i'd mention that in geology standards, 4000 years is a pretty small measure, so the erosion over that time would probably be all but nothing. for significant noticeable erosion, you'd be talking millions or billions of years, not thousands.

    i'd probably go with basically a sunken mountain range, so for the start, take a mt range, and sink it, so just the peaks stick out of the water... The problem with overall shape and erosion patters is it all depends on the world.. there's a lot to think about when you talk about land placement, and there are many factors that effect erosion. limestone is fairly hard i believe, so if it's simply water erosion, then things will go fairly slowly, resulting in the eroded base you see in some of the most iconic pictures from Ha Long Bay... caves and other weathering would happen with differences in erosion times, usually different materials, being a softer rock that would erode faster than the surrounding limestone. salt water is much more erosive than fresh water i believe, so if you're in a salt water sea, expect more erosion.

    When it comes down to it, it's fairly hard to have a wrong answer, cause you can back up pretty much anything you'd decide with some sort of geographical example... if not.. you could always blame it on magic.

    as is, i think you got quite the pirate haven brewing there, interesting setting to be sure.
    Photoshop, CC3, ArcGIS, Bryce, Illustrator, Maptool

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by loogie View Post
    first... i'd mention that in geology standards, 4000 years is a pretty small measure, so the erosion over that time would probably be all but nothing. for significant noticeable erosion, you'd be talking millions or billions of years, not thousands.
    Actually, when discussing karst topography, lots of erosion can happen in 4000 years. You'd start with sinkholes (think central Florida for an example), which would then evolve into connected canyons sunk into a flat karst block (kind of like the area around Mammoth Cave in Kentucky).
    And limestone doesn't have to come from a coral reef. Much of the world's limestone originally comes from shells deposited on the seabed.

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