Impossible weather?

[Ryan S. Thomason]

I'm hoping somebody can help me...

I have a client that I'm making a one-continent map for just now - in the middle of this continent is a circle of mountains,raised by a storm titan as a defensive tactic. The middle of the circle is a desert, fair enough so far. However, the titan's body is in the middle of the desert, with enough magic still attached to cause a permanent raincloud directly above. My client wants this to be the basis for a permanent settlement - would this be viable, or does the water all turn stagnant with nowhere to drain to? I think a solution is to have the body plus raincloud in the mountains, with a river flowing into the desert - what's everyone's opinions?

[Wingshaw]

My first comment would be that it is already a high-fantasy concept, so trying to apply real-world meteorology is probably not super important...

But to give a more productive answer to your question, you can logic the situation a bit. If the magic means that there is an unlimited quantity of water being created and pouring into a ring of mountains, then the mountains would fill up and flood the world. So, the water that's needed to sustain this perpetual raincloud has to come from somewhere. Perhaps the magic of your storm titan doesn't actually create rain, but rather increases evaporation - hence, all the water in that system ascends into the cloud, pours back down to the ground, and then rises again, before it can spread to the rest of the valley/crater. Which would also explain how a desert formed there in the first place. With a constant rotation of water like this, you might have some ponds, swamps and small rivers in the middle, with the titan, but you wouldn't need to worry about standing water that gets stagnant. Thus, you could have a permanent settlement

Hope that helps. That's how I'd justify it if I had this conundrum.

Wingshaw

[Ryan S. Thomason]

Thanks for that chief, I was struggling to wrap my head around it. At least I managed to talk them out of having a river running straight through both sides of the mountain circle, sea to sea...

[waldronate]

If it's a ring of mountains raised by magic, the central area can be raised above the surrounding terrain. Due to the nature of the mountain-raising, the underlying rock becomes fractured and any precipitation (natural or magical) would tend to flow out of the central area through the fractured bedrock. That way, you can get perpetual rain inside the ring of mountains as well possibly a ring of forest around the outside of the mountains or a river that runs out from under the mountains if that better suits your story. A perpetual cloud created due to magical effects could also support glaciers and other things on the surrounding mountains to allow for that classic snow-peaked impossibly-high set of mountains in a vast wasteland.

[Ogre]

Would it not be possible to have a watertable that was far enough below the desert to not hydrate the area? But the titan's location was located on a volcanic-rock or other porous rock base that could drain into the low watertable? I admit, geography is certainly not my forte but it seems possible to me...

[RenflowerGrapx]

Would it not be possible to have a watertable that was far enough below the desert to not hydrate the area? But the titan's location was located on a volcanic-rock or other porous rock base that could drain into the low watertable? I admit, geography is certainly not my forte but it seems possible to me...

I thin geography is not the point, actual real weather won't help lol.

I can immagine that the arid temperature would keep the rock/statue warm, that warm to dry the rain.

Maybe this causes some steams, but idk why I had this vision. lol


My opinion is that you should't struggle too much on the logic of this scenario.

Immagination and doubts are the charming part of this job.

[Azélor]

As other have confirmed, the water cycle would likely prevent stagnation.

The only problem I see is salinity.
The rains is basically giant sweat, which contain salt.
The salt would fall in the water but stay there after the evaporation process.
this could lead to an ever increasing concentration of salt in the water basin.
Assuming the titan could sweat an infinite quantity of salt.

[Ogre]

As other have confirmed, the water cycle would likely prevent stagnation.

The only problem I see is salinity.
The rains is basically giant sweat, which contain salt.
The salt would fall in the water but stay there after the evaporation process.
this could lead to an ever increasing concentration of salt in the water basin.
Assuming the titan could sweat an infinite quantity of salt.

Mmm, that's assuming the rainfall is from the body and not a result of the magic caused by the presence of the body. In other words, the rainfall is a side effect of the existence, not a scientific (sort of) result of the titan being a font of water. But I gotta admit, I love the idea of a city in this area that has made its fortune in the salt trade...especially once the source of the salt came to light... "Ewww, we've been eating giant-sweat on our food!?" LOL