[WIP] Unnamed

[davoush]

Updated wind maps. Hopefully these give a clearer picture of the prevailing winds and pressure zones:

Jan:
Jan Winds 3.png

July:
Jul Winds 3.png

Now onto climates. I realise Azelor's guide relies on temperature and precipitation maps to generate the Koppen classifications but for my purposes, I think it will be faster and more convenient to just estimate an area's temperature and precipitation based on latitude/water/winds as I go along.

[davoush]

My initial try at a Koppen map for the Western continent.

Main questions:

1) I am unsure about transition from Am to Aw. There is a large mountain range spanning this eastern coast which I think would bring the rainforest further north and south. Moving inland, the central part would be surrounded by two big monsoon areas - because the land below is very dry, winter will be very dry. Af basically mimics the north/south limit of the ITCZ.

2) The Cwa (brown) here lies in the rain shadow of a huge mountain range at about 35 latitude. Is this reasonable, or would the westerlies basically bring Cfb/Cfa up to the mountain range.

3) This coast has a cold current. I just transitioned directly from Cfb into Cfa, but would the cold current make it colder? Maybe Cfc > Cfb > Cfa?

4) The mountain rain shadow again. The Bush bordering onto Cwa and Cfa seems somehow wrong. I can't find any examples of Cwa occurring because of a rain shadow on earth, but the mountain range directly blocks the Westerlies at 30+ latitude and is very tall.

5) I think Cfa could occur here (similar to Australia but on a lesser scale)?

Any comments/criticism appreciated! The equatorial region is the part I am finding most difficult so far. Why does South America have such a large monsoon region? I can't seem to translate real world examples into my map.

Thanks!

Climates Draft 2.png

[davoush]

I decided the Wiki Koppen colour scheme was easier to differentiate various climates. I have finished a first draft which I think gives an overall idea, although some areas probably need reworking.

Main concerns:

1) There is a cold current coming up this coast, but the winds here blow in the opposite directions. Is it OK/normal for winds to blow in the opposite direction from the current? Or should I consider changing the current's flow? As it is a cold current, I think this coast will be quite cool, but I'm not sure exactly how cool. I realise the transition Dfc > Dfb > Cfc as it goes to the West coast is probably unlikely.

2) This subcontinent caused me a lot of trouble. First, I think the desert will be limited as there is plenty of onshore winds from the East coast. I was thinking about making the entire part savannah/steppe, but maybe a small desert is more realistic here? Could the Cwa extend that far down into the steppe region? My thinking was that the westerlies pick up moisture in the sea/that little bay, and onshore winds from the east coast limit the desert somewhat.

Also, there is an Andes style range on the East coast ending at about 20 latitude. The January winds will blow more or less parallel to the northern parts coast, meaning the coastal region will probably be dry in winter (Cwa). 30+ gets the Easterlies so it goes from Cfb in the north to Cfa a bit more south. The interior might have dry winters as the wind is blown down towards the ITCZ or offshore.

3) I am bad at the cooler climates. I think this island would transition from Cfb to Cfc to Dfc? The northern half is hit by a cool current. The mainland just below it (which is Cfb > Cwa > Cfa) is also hit by a cool current - should I extend the Cfb on this part?

4) This part looks quite Australia like. I was wondering if I could get away with having Cfa or Cwa along most of the coast? As winds blow onshore in summer.

The mountainous areas need a bit more thought. A lot occur in the middle of big deserts, so I have made them BWk. I think though, on the Eastern continent, they are probably not high enough (1000-2000m) to generate a BWk, but for now it just indicates that it's 'cooler' desert than the lowlands. On the Western continent (West coast), I made CSa be drawn inland to a moderate mountain range as there is some orographic lift there.

I'd also like to know on the Western continent where the large mountain range is - would the eastern side which is in the rain shadow of the westerlies likely to have a line of cold semi-arid (like north America basically) before transitioning into Cfa? This is unclear to me because the coast is a lot closer to most of the range than USA.

Thanks for any comments/criticism.

Climates Update.png

[Azélor]

My initial try at a Koppen map for the Western continent.

Main questions:

1) I am unsure about transition from Am to Aw. There is a large mountain range spanning this eastern coast which I think would bring the rainforest further north and south. Moving inland, the central part would be surrounded by two big monsoon areas - because the land below is very dry, winter will be very dry. Af basically mimics the north/south limit of the ITCZ.

2) The Cwa (brown) here lies in the rain shadow of a huge mountain range at about 35 latitude. Is this reasonable, or would the westerlies basically bring Cfb/Cfa up to the mountain range.

3) This coast has a cold current. I just transitioned directly from Cfb into Cfa, but would the cold current make it colder? Maybe Cfc > Cfb > Cfa?

4) The mountain rain shadow again. The Bush bordering onto Cwa and Cfa seems somehow wrong. I can't find any examples of Cwa occurring because of a rain shadow on earth, but the mountain range directly blocks the Westerlies at 30+ latitude and is very tall.

5) I think Cfa could occur here (similar to Australia but on a lesser scale)?

Any comments/criticism appreciated! The equatorial region is the part I am finding most difficult so far. Why does South America have such a large monsoon region? I can't seem to translate real world examples into my map.

Thanks!

Climates Draft 2.png

1 I agree

2: Since it is close to the water, cb or ca seems more logical.

3 there is also a mild current coming from the west through the strait. There could be cfc and dfb further north but that part is still cfb.

South america I belive has more moisture around, no dry air coming from the continent only moist coming from the ocean. I think this is the main difference.

[Azélor]

I decided the Wiki Koppen colour scheme was easier to differentiate various climates. I have finished a first draft which I think gives an overall idea, although some areas probably need reworking.

Main concerns:

1) There is a cold current coming up this coast, but the winds here blow in the opposite directions. Is it OK/normal for winds to blow in the opposite direction from the current? Or should I consider changing the current's flow? As it is a cold current, I think this coast will be quite cool, but I'm not sure exactly how cool. I realise the transition Dfc > Dfb > Cfc as it goes to the West coast is probably unlikely.

2) This subcontinent caused me a lot of trouble. First, I think the desert will be limited as there is plenty of onshore winds from the East coast. I was thinking about making the entire part savannah/steppe, but maybe a small desert is more realistic here? Could the Cwa extend that far down into the steppe region? My thinking was that the westerlies pick up moisture in the sea/that little bay, and onshore winds from the east coast limit the desert somewhat.

Also, there is an Andes style range on the East coast ending at about 20 latitude. The January winds will blow more or less parallel to the northern parts coast, meaning the coastal region will probably be dry in winter (Cwa). 30+ gets the Easterlies so it goes from Cfb in the north to Cfa a bit more south. The interior might have dry winters as the wind is blown down towards the ITCZ or offshore.

3) I am bad at the cooler climates. I think this island would transition from Cfb to Cfc to Dfc? The northern half is hit by a cool current. The mainland just below it (which is Cfb > Cwa > Cfa) is also hit by a cool current - should I extend the Cfb on this part?

4) This part looks quite Australia like. I was wondering if I could get away with having Cfa or Cwa along most of the coast? As winds blow onshore in summer.

The mountainous areas need a bit more thought. A lot occur in the middle of big deserts, so I have made them BWk. I think though, on the Eastern continent, they are probably not high enough (1000-2000m) to generate a BWk, but for now it just indicates that it's 'cooler' desert than the lowlands. On the Western continent (West coast), I made CSa be drawn inland to a moderate mountain range as there is some orographic lift there.

I'd also like to know on the Western continent where the large mountain range is - would the eastern side which is in the rain shadow of the westerlies likely to have a line of cold semi-arid (like north America basically) before transitioning into Cfa? This is unclear to me because the coast is a lot closer to most of the range than USA.

Thanks for any comments/criticism.

Climates Update.png

1 I can't find the corresponding maps but the current should flow mostly to the east.

The transition is normally cb/db/dc or cb/cc/tundra goin poleward. Cc are not common only in altitude between the tropics cwc or close to the sea like Norway and Iceland.

Inland there is also da/db/dc transition.

2: there is a high pressure system in place in the west meaning little rain in summer and not possible to have a monsoon in winter either. However going east, the influence of the high pressure system weakens and moisture from the north gets drawn in. Likely a steppe in the central part. You should probably expand the cf climate but I don't how much.

Since the eastern part is smaller and has a lot mountains, I don't think it should be affected much.

3 replace cfc with dfb

4 It looks ok to me

I think I spotted a dfa in the south, it should be dfc.

[davoush]

Thanks Azelor, your comments are much appreciated.

I think the cooler areas should mostly be OK now. I have reworked the eastern subcontinent and it now contains only steppe instead of a full desert. I imagine areas of this steppe will become increasingly desert-like in the centre, though. I assume the bottom tip is still OK to have savannah?

I have also added two Cwa regions in the rain shadow of the mountains. On the Eastern continent (near the western mountain range), this happens because dry air is sucked up parallel to the mountains in winter so it is more of a localised micro-climate. I was going to make these BSk, but I don't think BSk could appear anywhere on this map really? On that note, does anybody know why north America transitions abruptly from Cfa into BSk? I know there are highlands, but why does this cause it to be very arid? Perhaps the spot of Csa in the mountains (western continent) would actually be BSk.

I don't know where the Csa could extend that far inland, but the winds seem to indicate it could and the mountain range helps collect some rain.

Hopefully this shouldn't need too much changing now.

Thanks.

New Climates.png

[davoush]

Quick tectonics question:

I would like to add some islands off the west coast of the eastern continent around 30 latitude so I can have some fairly large isles with a mediterranean climate. Is this very unlikely with my current tectonics? The ocean is spreading between the east and west landmasses, so what explanations for the existence of islands could I have? They will be 'joined' to the main landmass by continental shelf, so maybe they are just parts that were not submerged?

I also think the Eastern continent looks slightly too much like a smaller version of Europe + Asia. I might modify the far eastern subcontinent a bit but this shouldn't change the tectonics as that whole landmass is on one plate anyway.

Thanks!

[Charerg]

Quick tectonics question:

I would like to add some islands off the west coast of the eastern continent around 30 latitude so I can have some fairly large isles with a mediterranean climate. Is this very unlikely with my current tectonics? The ocean is spreading between the east and west landmasses, so what explanations for the existence of islands could I have? They will be 'joined' to the main landmass by continental shelf, so maybe they are just parts that were not submerged?

I also think the Eastern continent looks slightly too much like a smaller version of Europe + Asia. I might modify the far eastern subcontinent a bit but this shouldn't change the tectonics as that whole landmass is on one plate anyway.

Thanks!

I think it's plausible enough, as long as the islands aren't gigantic in size (those are usually major pieces of continental crust that have rifted off a continent, like Greenland or Madagascar). If the islands remain part of the continental shelf, then they could well be areas that are simply higher than the surrounding shallow seas. Alternatively, you could have a hot spot-generated island chain like Hawaii. Maybe even something like the islands of the Cameroon line, if you have an aulacogen akin to the Benue Trough there.

[Azélor]

What I meant to say is that the eastern part should be dry because it is surrounded by mountains (unless it's not the case) and the center is a savanna because moisture is drawn in from the ocean north of the continent.

The steppes in NA are there because the precipitation decrease gradually going west. It receive very little moisture from the Pacific, it comes from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic.

I also think the Eastern continent looks slightly too much like a smaller version of Europe + Asia. I might modify the far eastern subcontinent a bit but this shouldn't change the tectonics as that whole landmass is on one plate anyway.

Don't worry, I already saw a continent shaped as a
poodle once. An eurasia is not so bad in comparison. But actually, I find it looks more like NA.

[davoush]

Thank you both.

@Charerg, I did plan the island(s) to be Madagascar sized or slightly smaller so the explanation might have to be "researchers are still working on it" for now...

@Azelor - I think my reference to the mountains might be confusing things. Only the mountains on the coast are extremely high, the others are 1000m-3000m forming more of a well-eroded plateau. I have included the jan and July winds for this area. I think the blue arrows are where winds would bring moisture, and white where they would be dry? Of course, please correct me if it seems wrong!

It seems like 30+ latitude would be wet, 15-30 probably dry, and 0-15 savannah/monsoon? And the mountain range to the west would also have a strip of steppe as it attracts dry winds.

[Edit: Updated wind maps not needed.]