Hey guys, sorry to double post in my own topic, but I'm actually having a little bit of a problem with this whole tectonic plates thing (the climate as well, as mentioned earlier), and it would be really nice if I could get some help. After doing some reading about it I decided that that crude map I have in the above post isn't going to cut it in that aspect, so I've come up with this one...
As you can see, I've been playing a little bit with the coastlines of two oft he continents, so ignore the sloppiness of the coloring there for the moment.
The thing I'm having them ost trouble with is that northern mountain range on the big Eurasia-like continent there, the problem being justifying its existence. I had kind of thought that it might have been formed by a process similar to how the Rockies were formed, and is now in the process of being weathered down. But to my knowledge, the Rocky Mountains were formed by two oceanic plates subducting under the North American Plate, a process which has left Western North America looking quite a bit different than any part of the northren portion of the continent I have going there. I may not end up naming it this, but for convenience, let's just call this continent Júent.
Now, I really kind of like that possible little green seasonal patch I have right there that's created by the way the mountains block the rain, and how flat it is, so if we can avoid making any serious changes to the Northeastern Coast, that would be great. I know that there is kind of a sharp drop in the Rocky Mountains as they open up into the Great Plains, but I had envisioned that area having some kind of variation in elevation (as you can see with the mountains in the upside-down Sweden area). Perhaps if the oceanic plates that subducted did so on the other side of the continent? I would probably have to make some adjustments then to the coast though if I did that, and that would also kind of make the vast majority of the continent very mountainous, which isn't something I was initially going for.
Is there any other geologic process that anybody on here can think of that could render the current mountain configurations in the area? I can make the necessary changes int he tectonic plates if need be.
I was also concerned about the altitudes on that S-shaped continent, which I already know is called Drehu. As you can see, I have Drehu split into two separate tectonic plates, the southern one is moving northeast and so directly colliding with the oceanic plate there (I'm fairly sure that giant island is going to go), and the northern one is moving westward toward Júent. I think because of the shape there, that would create a transform boundary in the middle of the plateau I have up there, wouldn't it? Does anyone know how the transform boundary would interact with the mountains being pushed up by the subduction of that easterly oceanic plate? I'm fairly sure that I need to make some adjustments there to the altitudes and such, but I'm just not sure what they are.
One more thing is this island circled in pink...
If it's on the same plate as Júent, I can't really think of a good reason for it to be where it is. Was Madagascar not once part of a different plate that has now merged with the African Plate, or am I confused? Cuz maybe something similar might have happened here?
Help would be greatly appreciated.
Oh, and Merry Christmas everyone, by the way
EDIT: Another problem would be that I have no idea how fast these plates are moving. From what I understand and the discussions that my very knowledgeable friend and I have had on this issue, the tectonic activity on Eurydice is actually increased because of the size of of the planet that it is tidally locked to. By how much tectonic activity and tidal activity and all of the other things that are normally affected by the pull of the moon are increased or changed I really have no idea, but I feel like it's probably relevant to this whole map making process...
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