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Thread: My world building project needs realism

  1. #11
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    This is how far I got with plate tectonics. I hope it's not too bad!

  2. #12
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    Mild changes on the right side of the map for tectonic plates.

  3. #13
    Guild Journeyer octopod's Avatar
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    A quick note on plate tectonics: plates tend to converge at 120 degree angles -- that is, three per intersection. So the intersection I marked (1) doesn't work at all, and a lot of the others are too square-looking (although your map projection may be messing with my head).

    Also, one of them doesn't join up across the north pole (2).

    The islands marked (3) look to me like the Phillippines, i.e. like an island arc, which means they'd be behind a subducting ocean plate. You already have a divergent margin out there in the ocean so you could just add a convergent margin in front of the islands. In fact, overall I'm not sure you have quite enough convergent margin to account for all that sea-floor spreading you've got (sorry about the little subduction triangles, I was trying to work it out).

    Your southernmost three plates (4) looks like they're divergent on all sides -- this is a problem unless all that seafloor is being consumed further north, which I don't see, or your earth is getting bigger, which I suppose is possible given this is a fantasy world!

    Untitled.png

  4. #14
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    Thank you. Is this better/more realistic?

    cartography3.jpeg

  5. #15
    Guild Journeyer octopod's Avatar
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    Sorry, I should have specified -- my little yellow triangles are on the plate that is subducting. So that upper left corner is still the way you had it before.

    I don't understand your notation, I think. What do you mean by the sort of plate boundary in the lower left, with one side moving away and the other staying still? Maybe establishing overall plate motions would make this easier to think about, so that it would be obvious whether things added up or not.

    I would also lose the plate boundary that goes through the middle of that inland sea with the two blue continents. I think there's plenty of plate motion enough to explain those mountain chains as is, and the H-shaped thing there looks kind of implausible.

    What is the little blob of islands right in the middle? Does that need its own plate? If not you could erase the boundary to its south, as I'm not sure what it's adding.

  6. #16
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    Thanks, can't do anything till tonight, but thanks so much! I got to take care of a few things first.
    It's now 2:42 pm for me.

  7. #17
    Community Leader Guild Sponsor Gidde's Avatar
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    I don't have anything really helpful to add except encouragement; hats off to you for doing the daunting. I tried and tried to do this and failed every time, so now I just click PlanetGen's create planet over and over till I get something I like. Good luck!

  8. #18
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    Post a copy with some regional names, easier to discuss that way, heh heh. Need to do that myself.

  9. #19
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    Thanks. Have I got the climates right? Are there more areas that could be changed to temperate forests?

    I'm taking care of names now. :-)

  10. #20
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    Ok, these are the current names for the continents.

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