Geological Landmark Orientation Consistencies
First of all, I know having multiple threads discussing the same subject filling forums can be frustrating, so forgive me if this has been asked prior to my asking.
For a good period of time, I've had what I thought was a good concept for my continent's map layout. But beyond anything, I want the physical landscapes to be practically placed. Aside from the obvious kinds of natural formations, like rivers sourced from mountains and emptying into the ocean, do any of you know what kind of typical order there is to natural formations in relation to each other?
I don't actually have anything drawn out very well at the moment, so all I can really offer is a description to the world I'm trying to make. Or at least, the way I have envisioned it thus far.
On a globe, this continent would be located mostly in the northern hemisphere, but its southern-most regions cross the equator. The northern 50-60% of the landmass is primarily composed of mountains, plains, and a massive forest. The largest of two mountain ranges sort of cups around the northern reaches of the plains just to its south and trails toward the west some before descending south-southeast into the desert far to the south. Underneath the northern parts of said mountains and to the west of its southern-descending range lies an extremely large forest at the eastern half of the continent's innermost regions. Just to the west of this forest lies the open ranges of a sprawling grassland that stretches along the lowest areas of the adjacent forest and up toward the northern mountains. This area's a little hard to describe, I know, but I would compare it to the likeness of a yin and yang, only these habitats are more irregular and don't look like that symbol in particular. Moving forward, the smaller of two mountain ranges begins halfway up the western side of the plains to the south before tapering off more sharply to the southeast, effectively creating a funnel of sorts with the other mountain range. Take something like this for a cheap image of what I mean \|. This smaller western range forms a kind of obtuse-angled wall; the northbound vertical stretch cutting the western parts of the continent partly off with the plains at the heartland, and the southeastern stretch blocks off the southern desert almost completely from the plains and forest to its north. Onto the western regions of the continent. Far simpler to describe, it's a graciously sized landscape occupied by some humble marshes and other generous water-based landmarks like lakes and rivers. As far as the desert is concerned, the northern half of it is what I've resarched as a "reg" which is the drier of arid regions. South of that are the "ergs", which denotes an arid region primarily consisting of sand dunes. Furthermore, the lands just east of the largest mountain range are more of a wasteland, more than semi-arid but not quite arid. As far as climates go, you can pretty much imagine that much well enough without any description.
My biggest concern is the mountains. While I think their placement might be fine as is, I worry about their relationship to the coasts of the continent. Specifically speaking, they're relatively close, which I'm not sure makes sense. As I've imagined it, the northernmost reaches of the largest mountain range are at a highland within the continent. So in essence, the not so distant nothern edge beyond them hangs far above a ravaged cliff face. Same kind of situation with the southwestern mountain range. Almost directly adjacent to its outer face lies the ocean, only on a more modest cliff face.
Sorry for the lengthy description, but I want to be thorough so I can help you visualize this landmass. I'm not a geologist, so I have no way of knowing if this continent's landmarks' orientations are practical. Inspired by and aspiring to be like Tolkien who created a practical world, I want my own to be a believable place, were it to actually exist.
So if anyone can help me understand what makes sense and what doesn't, I would be extremely grateful for your assistance. I'm as new to cartography as you can get, but my story means so much to me, I want its setting to be just right. Again, I appreciate your help and I thank you for your time and patience.
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