Geological Landmark Orientation Consistencies

[Tomas L.]

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.

[Azélor]

To explain it simply, mountains tend to form with convergent tectonic plates. Mountains can form close to the ocean like here : http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._42.99203S.jpg
or not, the distance form the sea is not that important : http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himalay...an_Plateau.png

They can also appear on the borders of 2 transforming plates like in Turkey but the mountains tend to be smaller : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_A...lian_Plate.png

Mountains or volcanoes also appear on the divergent zones such as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge but they are mostly underwater.

So you should decide where the tectonic plates are, in what direction they are moving and place the mountains accordingly.



source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...e_interactions

[Tomas L.]

Thank you for the simplified, but essential details to this matter. Personally, I have taken the theory of plate tectonics with a grain of salt, but that's beside the point. Given the various examples you've presented, mountainous regions don't necessarily need to be deep in the mainland of a continent. That alone has helped me tremendously and I appreciate it. Forgive me for continuing to pry, but do the kinds of elements, minerals, and such vary depending on the location of certain mountain ranges? Maybe the moisture levels or climates impact the kinds of mineral deposits and developments? And would external influences even have any kind of impact on the kinds of deposits found within its chasms or depths?

[Tomas L.]

If my latest response prior to this one offended you or seemed to imply I wasn't appreciative of your input, forgive my lack of clarity. I don't want give anyone here the wrong impression about me. While I have my reservations about some particular areas of certain studies out there, I am no less thankful for the time you expend on a novice cartography enthusiast's questions. I truly believe this has to be the best place to learn about cartography and all elements pertaining to said topic. Those of you who have been involved with cartography possess treasure troves of information that I could greatly benefit from, and I am truthfully grateful for any and all constructive input that could help me get a leg up on making maps of my own. So I extend to you my apologies for any misunderstandings I am at fault for. I hope to rely on your advice further in the future, should you find it worth your time. Thank you.

[Azélor]

It's alright. I can assure you I'm not angry or anything like that. I did not answer because I'm doing a couple of things at the same time.
In fact, I usually have several internet tabs opened all the time.

About the question: I'm not good enough in geology to answer the question.

[waldronate]

The minerals formed in a mountain range are more a function of the kind of mountain range (sedimentary, igneous) and its history (how much metamorphism it has suffered in its formation) than of its location. However, the kind of secondary deposits (e.g. placer deposits of gold and gems found in rivers downstream of mountains) are very much influenced by the location of the mountain range. A very wet area will have significant amounts of erosion for the primary deposits and the gravels near where the canyons flow out of the mountains will tend to accumulate very heavy items such as gold, gems, and platinum. Secondary erosion of floodplains can further enhance the deposits.

Primary deposits can form in many ways, but common ones are hydrothermal alterations of existing country rocks. Gold-bearing quartz veins, for example, may be formed by deposition of silica and associated minerals (gold, sulfides of lead, copper, and silver) in fractures in the rock from a very hot water solution that contains small amounts of those minerals. If sulfide deposits are exposed to a moist oxygen environment, they will tend to oxidize to sulfate and oxide minerals.

[Tomas L.]

I know the fault of words is lack of ability to show tone, so I just wanted to express my true intentions here. I want to learn as much as I can from this community in order to make my concept a reality. And I understand completely. I often jump back and forth among several sites myself. Thank you again for the input.

[Chick]

Here is a pretty readable page of information of different classes of minerals and how they form.

http://www.geosci.ipfw.edu/PhysSys/Unit_3/minerals.html

[Tomas L.]

If I were to create rich abundances of gold, gems, and other (heavier the better I presume) materials, they would be found less in frigid or arid regions and more so in places that are continental or subtropical because the humidity would better erode areas to further chances of depositing? And do they need to necessarily be deposited in water sources? If flooding or high precipitation regularly occur, they could be found in moist areas, but located closer inland, or is that means of harvesting restricted to finding veins underground and in mountains' caverns? As for primary deposits, do the deposits of materials like silica primarily occur in particular climates? For example, would the sedimentary types yield a more abundant supply of gold (or any material for that matter) veins?

(Below is optional. i know I asked a bunch of questions haha)

So is the metamorphism of these various mountain range types influenced by climate? Or is it affected by more internal stimuli instead?

I would imagine my larger of ranges is home to not only large mountains but stretches across multiple climate zones (assuming their orientation is practical): Northernmost regions above and at the mountains are tundra; just below the northernmost mountainous regions, the plains are more subarctic; the adjacent grasslands and forest in the center of the landmass are primarily continental; from here the largest range crosses through the eastern side (so I'm not sure if it would fall under the same classification as the central climates or could be the edge of an eastern steppe next to it, which is what I was planning on) of the continent to an arid region at its southernmost reach. And as just mentioned, this particular mountain range stops at the driest regions of a desert, as I've read as "regs".

Furthermore, the smaller, southwestern mountain range falls between the central continental climate and the western subtropical regions. Westernmost areas are oceanic. The southernmost regions of the central region and southwest stretching arm of the mountains become less continental and more semiarid. Just beyond the smaller of ranges, the drier desert is north of the southernmost erg desert. Just to the east of the steppe climate I noted, there is a large coastline, but I don't know what kind of climate an eastern coast would have. And lastly, the large island to the east of that coastline would be somewhat mountainous, but very lacking in vegetation (not sure what classification that would be).

Thank you very much for the information. Every detail will help me put this world together the way I want.

[Tomas L.]

Thank you for yet another resource I can use to my disposal. For the most part, mineral and metal deposits were something I hadn't thought about including, but considering the purposes of said materials in the map and more so, the story, I would need to better understand their consistencies to make a practical world for the plot.