WIP - Unnamed fantasy world with realistic concerns

[Pixie]

Hi

Your map looks fine and realistic at first sight. There is one issue concerning tectonics that I need to note though, and I would try to fix it if I were you:
Towards the west of the map you have a huge arc-chain of islands, big ones. An arc like that happens as a result of oceanic crust being subducted under another plate and by the size of the islands, that has been going on for a while... However, at the same time, there is a clear West-East oceanic ridge spreading the northern continent from the southern ones. They are sufficiently away to say this has been happening for some time as well.
My point is that you have created an impossible area. You cannot have subduction and crust-formation in the same point, there is no way a ridge suddenly ends in a subduction zone (I just double checked this on an Earth's map and can't see it anywhere)

On a more positive note, I quickly drafted a map of oceanic currents for you. This is draft though because there is one very important information needed to make it more accurate - the limits of the continental shelves.


Here's my rules of thumb for creating currents (assuming Earth-like conditions):
- at the equator, hot currents develop in from East to West, they will flow poleward as soon as they find a significant continental mass (even if underwater, some continental shelves are submerged).
- this poleward movement of hot water remains "glued" to eastern coasts until they are more or less around 45º-60º - they will be turning Eastward by then.
- Once they become eastbound they start cooling down into cold currents, they will move towards the equator once they meet another continent.
- Even for smaller gulfs, the basic rule is that hot currents will also go polebound in the eastern coasts.

[eternalsage]

Ok, first off, thanks so far to everyone. So much help already. This is exactly what I was hoping for when I tackled this project. So two maps following, one is with currents added, to make sure that I'm on the right boat. Pixie, I didn't copy your map so much as I tried to recreate it using the techniques you said. I glanced at your example map and the two looked similar, but hey, just wanted some more feedback. I also moved the island chain. I totally understand what you are saying, but I kinda like the islands (not that they have to stay, I'm just partial, for some reason). They may still not work, but hey, here's to trying, right? Also, if you or Veldehar have any ideas where I might find out more information about air currents, as I am completely uncertain about them, whereas I had at least a basic concept of how ocean currents work.



The second map is my own version of the pangea concept, firstly to see exactly how it goes together (because I may need to adjust some continent sizes/shapes) and also because I have a sneaking suspicion that it will be important in the next step, which is that I want to get a broad idea of the plate tectonics at work here, so I can know if I have a "ring of fire" situation, and other such important bits. So thank you Jalyha for the idea. If anyone knows a good way to get started on that, I don't even know what to look for, except the continent in the center of the "C" like formation is like the African Rift Valley (that was the intention anyway) just much further along its course.



And I can post my Inkscape SVG work files, if anyone wants them. I dunno if thats like a faux pas or anything around here, but if it would make things easier I can.

EDIT: Oh, and I also thought it would be a good idea to think out land bridges and that kind of stuff, even though that is more into the history "moving populations around" stage in some ways. I think that might fall into the suggestion of figuring out continental shelves, but again, I am a noob at that stuff. Just enough geological knowledge to hurt myself.