My world - The Everlandias

[Gidde]

Mountain placement looks good, and I really like the crater archipelago in the southeast. Not sure if the rough sketch just doesn't incorporate it, but you may want to curve the mountains there if it actually is a crater.

Looking forward to seeing the pieces put together!

[LonewandererD]

Just a note, the "crater" in the southeast was not naturally formed and so the landscape around it is going to look distorted.

-D-

[LonewandererD]

Update.

Here's the base B&W map for Khazardia, it came out bigger than planned but I can work with that. The red lines indicated the postitions of the Polar Circle and the Tropics Line.

As always, I have some questions for our world gurus. First, do deserts have to sit on the tropics line or can I explain it away with two large rain shadows? Second, assuming that this map depicts Khazardia in the summer, would snow descned south of the Poilar Circle line, and if so how far?

As always, any help or feedback is welcomed.

-D-

[Yagisan]

Update.

Here's the base B&W map for Khazardia, it came out bigger than planned but I can work with that. The red lines indicated the postitions of the Polar Circle and the Tropics Line.

Is this the entire northern hemisphere ?

As always, I have some questions for our world gurus. First, do deserts have to sit on the tropics line

No - not all deserts are the hot and sandy type

or can I explain it away with two large rain shadows?

It depends - I've tried to accurately model the climate zones for Prime, and where the deserts appear depends on temperature, rainfall, wind direction, rain shadow areas, booth in January and July. In my case, both my "cold" deserts are caused primarily by rain shadow year round, while my hot desert is cause by both high temperatures, and rain shadow (posted -> http://www.cartographersguild.com/sh...0412#post80412).

Now, assuming that's the entire northern hemisphere, I'd tentatively place a cold desert between the two mountain ranges north of the number 5 in the handdrawn map, and perhaps a hot desert to the left of the mountains at number 3.

Second, assuming that this map depicts Khazardia in the summer, would snow descned south of the Poilar Circle line, and if so how far?

I think you might get some snow in the region bounded by mountains above 1 depending on ocean currents - if a warm current is coming past then it's possible - if a cold current it's unlikely.

As always, any help or feedback is welcomed.

-D-

[Karro]

In addition to those notes, deserts and semi-arid environments also tend to form in the interiors of large landmasses. This is because even if there are no impediments like mountains to cause rainshadow... as moisture is moved across large land areas and cools, it condescends (rains). At some point, enough moisture has already been removed from the air that without a large body of water to draw more moisture from as air currents move further and further inland, the air gets drier and drier and the land gets less and less rainfall.

As I understand it, between rainshadow and the massive size of the Asian continent, this is what causes the Gobi Desert, which isn't very near the tropics at all.

[LonewandererD]

Thanks for the info guys and to answer your question Yagisan no this is not the entire northern hemisphere, if it was I would have a rather small world. I'm working on this world with a friend of mine, this is the northern hemisphere in my half of the world.

You've pretty much guessed where I was going to put the hot and cold deserts in the northern hemisphere, I just needed clarification that my placement didn't violate normal environmental placement. With the cold desert, would it become grassland if it where watered by rivers that are fed from the mountains and the annual thawing of ice? Or would the areas arounf the rivers be green but the rest dry? I have an idea of a grassland orientated country and I want to know where to put it.

Also, the mountains on my plan are going to be smaller on the actual map, they look bigger on the plan because I had less space to work with.

I did think I was going to get snow in the no1 region, I'm going to change the direction of the mountains in that region so that they angle down to the southeast and not the southwest, this should mean I would have snow trapped between in the mountains and the inland sea right?

I have some basic knowledge of water currents and climate placement that I'm using to colour the rest of Khazardia. Here's what I think its going to look like, correct me if i'm wrong. The southeast on the ocean side of the mountains should be tropical and wet. the other side of the mountains is going to be arid turning into desert further in, sort of like the southern regions of america and mexico. The northwest should be cloudy, miserable and heavily forested, like England and I think Scandinavia (check spelling). The northeast should also be heavily forested but a little warmer and more pleasant than on the other side because water is travelling up from the tropics, like Maine. The south west should be arid changing to greener areas along the coast, like the Meditirenean (check spelling). The centre is a mix of grasslands, wastes, deserts and forests (for the areas that gets enough rainfall). Am I right in my planning? And what areas, if any, in the centre would be forested?

-D-

[LonewandererD]

Not really an update but something I need to run by our climate experts.

Here is the basic climate layout for Khazardia. The numbers and red lines are the smaller sections I've broken the map down into for colouring also there for the convenience of pointing out where change is needed. Red on green is terrible I know. Right now I've done section 1 and I'm currently working on section 2. Colour code is as follows...

Blue = Water.
Brown = Major mountain chains.
Dark Green = Temperate zones, heavily forested turning into grasslands in low rainfall areas. Warmer and more pleasant in the east and colder in the west.
Lighter Green = Warmer zones. Mainly plains/savanah in higher rainfall zones but arid wastes further in where it is dryer. Green along the coasts and around local water sources like rivers and lakes.
Bright Green = Tropical zones, same as Adallia, jungle terrain and marshes.
Papyrus = Desert.
White = Snow covered/tundra. Heavily forested in higher rainfall areas.


Is this plan accuarate you do I need to change stuff?

-D-

[Yagisan]

Here is the basic climate layout for Khazardia. The numbers and red lines are the smaller sections I've broken the map down into for colouring also there for the convenience of pointing out where change is needed. Red on green is terrible I know. Right now I've done section 1 and I'm currently working on section 2. Colour code is as follows...

Blue = Water.
Brown = Major mountain chains.
Dark Green = Temperate zones, heavily forested turning into grasslands in low rainfall areas. Warmer and more pleasant in the east and colder in the west.
Lighter Green = Warmer zones. Mainly plains/savanah in higher rainfall zones but arid wastes further in where it is dryer. Green along the coasts and around local water sources like rivers and lakes.
Bright Green = Tropical zones, same as Adallia, jungle terrain and marshes.
Papyrus = Desert.
White = Snow covered/tundra. Heavily forested in higher rainfall areas.


Is this plan accuarate you do I need to change stuff?

-D-

I don't claim to be an expert, but on a quick once over, these are my observations:

For snow to fall we need moisture in the air to hit a nice cold area, and as moisture tends to come in from the sea, and not seeing all of the northern hemisphere, but noting the large sea to the side, I'd hand wave that it's likely you do have warm currents heading that way, and in fact the snow at 15 is on the wrong side of the mountains, and that the location you have snow in, may well be icecap and/or frozen tundra.

The coastal regions around number 5 would have a climate similar to Perth near the dark green regions, becoming more like Broome towards the desert.

In 13 I'd expect a bit more tundra, and for some reason the coast along 2 just screams NSW to QLD coast to me.

Hope it helps,

Yagisan

[LonewandererD]

You don't know how strange, and somewhat refreshing, it is to hear someone use Australian locales as descriptions, it really helps. I was going to have the coast line of 2 to be rainforest but being so far north of the equator, and the tropics line, i thouhg it would be more temperate. But looking at Queensland and NSW it does make sense.

I'm going to be put more tundra up in 13, its actually supposed to be the site of cold desert, at least I think it would be, and I will put some snow on the other side of the mountains in 15. Iw ill have to look up the climate types for Perth and Broome, i'm not that familiar with them as I'm on the other side of Australia.

Thnx Yagisan

-D-

[Yagisan]

You don't know how strange, and somewhat refreshing, it is to hear someone use Australian locales as descriptions, it really helps.

Well, they would be the ones I have the most direct experience with ( I'm in Sydney myself)

I was going to have the coast line of 2 to be rainforest but being so far north of the equator, and the tropics line, i thouhg it would be more temperate. But looking at Queensland and NSW it does make sense.

The mountain range just evokes the great dividing range, and the obviously more arid interior would suggest a quick transition from central NSW to far western NSW climate. The southern end looks like sub-tropical Brisbane and as you get further towards the equator, you transition into tropical Cairns.

I'm going to be put more tundra up in 13, its actually supposed to be the site of cold desert, at least I think it would be, and I will put some snow on the other side of the mountains in 15. Iw ill have to look up the climate types for Perth and Broome, i'm not that familiar with them as I'm on the other side of Australia.

Thnx Yagisan

-D-

I think this picture makes it rather clear what I think the area looks like:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Au...lite_plane.jpg

This is an extremly useful page for climate classification http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%B6...classification

As for your cold desert in 13 - I'd think of something like the Nullarbor Plain in the warmer regions with tundra closer to the pole