WIP Trying to get correct geological features down

[Oddly Otter]

I am revisiting an old story and realized that my map made no geological sense! So I'm trying to revamp everything! So i've been doing a lot of research on various things and have tried to implement it.

I have attempted to make this geologically sound but I would like to get some input on this sketch to know what I should and shouldn't fix. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[waldronate]

What is the intended scale and projection for this sketch? I can make a very rough guess about scale (very roughly 10 000 km square) assuming an earthlike world, but I can't say much about the projection. The middle of that continent is going to be pretty dry, perhaps too dry to support the size of lakes show. It's a little hard to get that central ring of mountains using straight tectonics (there would probably need to be several plates converging on another plate or the mountain ranges would be different heights from at least two different sets of collisions).

[Azélor]

Looks like an evil fat bird about to eat his prey with his claw. Now, try to unsee the bird...

I think the top is natural.

[Oddly Otter]

What is the intended scale and projection for this sketch? I can make a very rough guess about scale (very roughly 10 000 km square) assuming an earthlike world, but I can't say much about the projection. The middle of that continent is going to be pretty dry, perhaps too dry to support the size of lakes show. It's a little hard to get that central ring of mountains using straight tectonics (there would probably need to be several plates converging on another plate or the mountain ranges would be different heights from at least two different sets of collisions).

I was going for something similar to the North American Craton for the mountain formation. I think I'll need to not round it at the top but have the mountains extend up into the fjords instead to make more sense

Size wise, Large. Pretty dang large continent but mostly in the temperate zone with bits of it into the other zones. I figured the mountains would cause a basin in the middle which could pool water into it causing the lake. Was going for taller mountains on the left side for that effect. This would at least make that basin less dry but the right side past the mountains would be dry due to the wind of the temperate climate. Or those were my thoughts.

I was also feeling like having it have been formed by glaciers, kinda, hence the layout of the lake near the top half. I probably should eliminate the mountain range between it and the top

Looks like an evil fat bird about to eat his prey with his claw. Now, try to unsee the bird...

I think the top is natural.

Land of Evil Fat Birdia. It could work haha

[Pixie]

Here's something that I think could work... but you gotta be warned that wanting things that make sense in geological terms often implies changing coastlines or mountain placement. Still, have a look at this:


In green are different cratons now belonging to the same plate - at some point in the past, they were converging and the middle one got enough mountains/bends on both sides to make it a very large bowl shape. The southern side of these cratons could be the historical ocean side, making their old-age rivers flow southwards.

The plate in brown is a "newcomer", think of it as India... moving fast, furious and colliding head on. You can simulate a kind of himalayas in that brown line.

In blue I would place a dying continental plate, being replaced by a very shallow/underwater continental plate with oceanic plate on some parts, coming from south. You could model that from the northern boundary of Indo-Australian plate, mainly the Papuan region for one of the darker blue lines and from the Aleutians/Kamchatka/Japan for the other line.

Hope this helps.. just some ideas. Feel free to follow none

[Oddly Otter]

Oh wow that super helps actually! Just seeing the take on it puts it in a better perspective for me.

[Tiluchi]

As always Pixie has the best advice in terms of geology! As far as climates, I'd recommend Azelor's tutorial, since it seems you want to get really into geologic and climatological accuracy. For the moment I agree with waldronate, as I think the interior will be too dry to handle big lakes like what you have in your map. I suspect it will look something more like the Tarim Basin in Asia: a big endorheic basin with some wetlands, but too dry to support proper lakes. However, it would also depend, I suppose, on the height of your mountains and how your currents and pressure systems are located.

[Oddly Otter]

Ooo That's a great resource too. I knew coming to you guys would be a great idea. I need to post here more often.

A wetlands type terrain could be a good, and different, type of plot set up that I may actually really enjoy!