Planning the climate and ecosystem (WIP)

[Elterio Delgard]

Hello once more everyone!

Okay, so this map is not the most natural I know but it just gives me so much possibility for my future books that I have to keep it. Now I was wondering how such a landscape would be affected by two huge long mountain chains. On the western part, you have the clouds that cannot get past through the first mountain chain unless they pour out their rain so we have a really humid area. In the center, the Wind from the desert land to the South are kept prisonner and sometimes they clash with colder winds from the north. So yeah, you have dry hot winds and cold winds clashing all the time and there is that long wide river going north as well. To the east, not much really. Oh! I forgot! Because of the two mountain chains, the in-between (still have to name it) has year-round short days. That mean it could certainly make the nights cold despite the hot winds from the South.

[Elterio Delgard]

So here is the map, some may have seen it. I will double it so you can have the one with notes and the one without writting.
Suite7.jpg
Suite7 - Copie.jpg

[Elterio Delgard]

Also, if you want an overview of the continent in order to know where the rivers go and all that, here it is.
Climates.gif

[Azélor]

What is the scale of the map and where is it located (latitudes) ?

How tall are the mountains?

And when you say shorter days, you mean less sunlight? That would only be true if your on the mountain range or right next to it but from what I see, the valleys are a couple of kilometers wide. Most people living there would not be affected.

[Lanyx]

Hi, my best guess that the area with the star will be semi-arid, or even grass lands. I am thinking of area looking like the Karoo in South Africa (Beaufort West). To the south, your mountains become hills as they curve west. This allows the moist ocean air in. However, you have a lot of forests/jungles which seem to suggest that the moisture is deposited there. Occasionally, with a very strong storm, some moisture will get through to your area. This could happen 3 to 10 times per year. Regarding your day length, The height of the mountains may be negated by the curve of the planet, and the distance from the mountains. You may have hot summers and cold winters, as rocks don't hold their temperature very well.

I hope my insight helped.

[Elterio Delgard]

Both of ya helped alot. But to answer Azelor my fellow Québécois, that map would be just south of the the great lakes to the northern part of the USA, and going down some 2100km down. The scale is about 50 miles per cm. But the scale may change actually, I am debating.

Thanks Lanyx for the answers you gave me.

However, one thing bugs me. Between the two mountains, with the clashing of winds from the north and those from the South PLUS those from the west, that would create big storms in that long valley no?

[Charerg]

First of all congratulations on the map, that is some beautiful work!

However, as Azelor said, we really need to know the latitudes of the world map, so we have some idea about how big the area is, where the dominant winds come from, and how much moisture they might have. For example, I'm not sure if the desert winds would in practice commonly clash with colder air, since winds below the "desert latitudes" generally blow in a SW direction (towards the Equator), whereas above them the Westerlies blow NE (towards the polar front). That's why we have the "horse latitudes" in between, causing deserts.

Of course, deserts are theoretically possible almost anywhere, in the right circumstances (and this is a fantasy world, after all), but I thought this was worth mentioning.

[Elterio Delgard]

OKay thanks for everything so far! Concerning the mountain heights... For the eastern chain, the heights are like those of the Andees. For the western one, slightly lower. Around 5km for the eastern and 4.3km for the western. Of course the western mountain chain is more smooth so it gets lower to the South quite quickly after the forest.

As for the Wind and the humidity, I still have to work on it. Now, after meal, I will work on the lattitudes some more, on the general big map.

[Azélor]

I made a small map with details on it:
Attachment 83836

You can see the map of North America in background for scale comparison.
The climates in the north and south edges really depend on what lies beyond and are unknown for the moment.
For the winds, I am not sure if the direction I indicated is the same from north to south. I think the winds should shift south all the way but I do not know, since the winds could be pretty weak.

[Elterio Delgard]

Thanks Azelor, but when I was saying that my map was about just South of the great lake, i was talking about the page with the two mountain chains and the valley, so would be like one page up. However, your insight is aweseome though. I am starting to work oin it now.