Introduction and first maps

[landorl]

I have to admit that plate tectonics is rather weak in the world map. I had originally designed the northeastern section of the central continent for a story that I was writing, and slowly built more of the world around it.

The world is a fantasy setting, and is a combination of natural ebb and flow of things, as well as some unnatural cataclysmic changes that happened a few thousand years ago. (Think of Middle Earth at the end of the First Age)

I am still working on climate and temperatures. For the most part, the world is similar in size and scale to our own world (work with what you know!). I still have a long way to go on general world creation, but I have an idea as to where I am heading. I may do a little redesigning as I look to make it a little more accurate with the adding of plates and faultlines.

[RPMiller]

There have been some great links and posts regarding world creation in these forums so do some searches and I'm sure you'll find a few things that will really help and inspire you.

[landorl]

I have mostly used the Terraficta tool as is. The only thing that I did extra was to use the brush tool to spray different shades of green and brown for the background(ground surface). I also expanded the default size of their templates to fit the drawing that I was using.

Terraficta is a great add on for Photoshop, it has all of the layers predefined with the effects that they need to get the look that you are looking for.

[landorl]

This is a new map showing the general lines of the major faults in the world. the red lines mark the faults. I have put an arrow showing the general drift of the plates. In general everything is drifting away from a central range of mountains that mark the spine of the world. I have placed in a blue line where the deepest ocean trenches would be, and in a brown line (which is hard to see) where some undersea mountain ridges would be.

I am not sure that the trenches are in the right location though. I don't know exactly which side of the fault that a trench would form on.

[RPMiller]

Based on that diagram you actually wouldn't have mountain ranges in a couple places. Mountains don't from because there is a fault line. They form, typically, because one plate is moving underneath another plate. For example, look at North Arafran. See how the arrows are pointing away from each other? This would not form a mountain range. Instead it would create a canyon or rift, and actually break the continent apart at some point much like South America and Africa. Note how the mountains in South America are on the western side. That is because the plate is pushing away from Africa and into the South Pacific plate.

Of course a lot of it is also going to have to do with the age of the world as well. The younger it is the lower and fewer mountains there will be.

And of course we can't discount magic in a fantasy setting. Once magic enters the picture you can toss out any 'real world' issues.

You obviously have put some serious time and consideration into the world and I would love to see how it evolves as you continue to move forward.

[landorl]

So, actually, what I kind of need is everything slowly drifting in towards the center, with the outer plates moving at a slightly faster speed. The outer plates would push down creating a trench on the outer side of the fault, and mountains on the inner side as the other plate is forced up.

[RobA]

So, actually, what I kind of need is everything slowly drifting in towards the center, with the outer plates moving at a slightly faster speed. The outer plates would push down creating a trench on the outer side of the fault, and mountains on the inner side as the other plate is forced up.

yeah - kind of like a "when plates collide thing".

Actually, I did a bit of googleing, and realized the wikipedia entry is pretty good too- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plate_tectonics

It shows clearly that you can have more than one "land mass" per plate. For example, earth's "North America plate" contains North America, Iceland, and a good chunk of Siberia.

Also, remember this process cycles endlessly, so a seemingly inexplicable mountain range (old and worn, that is) can always be blamed on a previous plate collision/fusing, suck as our earth's Ural mountains.

-Rob A>

[RobA]

This is a new map showing the general lines of the major faults in the world. the red lines mark the faults. I have put an arrow showing the general drift of the plates. In general everything is drifting away from a central range of mountains that mark the spine of the world. I have placed in a blue line where the deepest ocean trenches would be, and in a brown line (which is hard to see) where some undersea mountain ridges would be.

I am not sure that the trenches are in the right location though. I don't know exactly which side of the fault that a trench would form on.

What RPMiller said! Also when two plates are sliding past each other, you have a fault zone (earthquakes and the like) but tend not to get mountains or canyons forming.

A good (but somewhat simple explanation) is here: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/geology/tecmech.html

In most current theories (afaik) a planet will start up with one big "land mass"/"hight spot" as it cools, near the equator, due to centripetal force and tidal actions of the sun/moons. This one mass will start to fracture into various plates due to convection currents in the aesthenosphere, pumped by radioactive decay.

I am not sure how you came up with your continent layout, but it could be tricky to apply a techtonic model to something not started with one. I am not sure if any of the "world building" softwares support a plate tectonic model, as the (free/demo) ones I have played with tend to use things like ridged multifractals, plasma models or the like.

-Rob A>