conworlds.info

[golem]

I'm creating a naturalistic conworld, and I've just finished making its first map. Here it is:


Red lines are borders of tectonic plates.

What do you think about that? Should I correct somethink (the plates, continenets, something else)?

[Robun]

Aaah, I am not the only one to create worlds by beginning with plate tectonics !

It seems that all these continents are spreading from the center of the map. Am I right ? Three red lines cross a continent (the big one at east) : are they collision or rifting ?

Is there any subduction zones ? I would have think that the two western continents would be bordered at west by subduction (if they move to west, like I think).

[chiarizio]

Show the mid-oceanic trenches from which new ocean-floor is being created and is spreading, as well as the subduction zones where one continental-shelf tectonic-plate is being drawn down into the mantle under the plate next to it, thereby lifting up that other plate into a mountain range.

Most of your continents should have a mountain-range either just inland of the coast or just off-shore in a sort of archipelago sitting on their continental shelf.

Where you have two continents meeting above sea-level, they should have a mountain-range there.

If you have two plates drawing apart, not in the ocean, there should be a graben and a Rift valley and maybe something like the Dead Sea or like the Mediterranean basin was at some time when it was dry; in other words, dry land below sea-level. If this land has been covered by ocean and then dried out several times over the millenia, it may have a lot of extremely salty spots, like the Dead Sea, Lake Natron, or some salt flats.

You may have places where rivers reversed course because mountain-ranges were built across/beneath them. The rivers around the Himalayas include some examples; and the Amazon is an example.

You may have fresh-water bodies that, historically, were parts of the ocean, but that plate-tectonics re-jiggered. That could give you fresh-water cousins of pelagic species, like the Amazon river-dolphins.

All in all a plate's boundaries should include;
* a rift (usually a "mid"-ocean rift) from which it is drawing away
* a subduction zone towards which it is moving
* faults where it scrapes against other plates not moving in the same direction at the same speed but not moving mostly toward it nor mostly away from it.

For instance suppose there is a Pacific plate whose western boundary is the mid-oceanic ridge. Suppose it's moving eastward, and is subduced under the North American plate (or, maybe, the North American plate is being subduced under it) along the Rocky Mountains subduction zone. Then its northern boundary would be a fault-zone where it contacts some Arctic plate that isn't moving west-to-east; and its southern boundary could also be a fault-zone where it scrapes against some southern plate that also isn't moving west-to-east.
_________________
The mark of a good citizen is that he doesn't believe anything if he can help it.
-- W.B. Yapp
-----------------------------
I am also eldin raigmore.

[Avjunza]

[Cerne]

The tectonic map isn't bad, actually. I sort of like how you placed each piece of land in the center of the plate like that. Of course at the parts where the plate boundaries intersect the parts of land above the water you would need to put mountain ranges, but other than that it looks perfectly fine to me.

And to those who are inquiring about the subduction zones and mid-ocean trenches, the directions that the plates are moving toward and away from has not yet been indicated so you don't really know if they are there yet.

Aside from the mountain ranges, I just have one more piece that I don't think anyone else has mentioned: in the areas where you do have plate subduction - I.e. one plate sliding underneath another - you will want to put a string of islands above the water at those boundaries to indicate the resulting volcanic activity. First decide where iach of those plates are going, then put islands and/or mountain ranges in front of them.

Hope this helps. And don't worry about any typos...that happens to me a lot too

[Robun]

[Avjunza]

[vaja]

I see the point Cerne was trying to make. I haven't been so much into plate tectonics ever, but I'd say you can't see how the plates move unless Robun marked the movement directions.
I'd say, if you are used to the look of the plates on our earth, the familiar shape will easily make you think that those plates move like ours. But, in my (probably uninformed) opinion, this is not indidcated by the map golem shows us.

I don't think that the map is very original, because it reshapes earth too much, as mentioned before. Probably you should start working out mountain ranges, grabens (such funny loan word ) and other geographic features to give us something more to discuss about. Tell us more about your world!

...and I have to add: I find it rather unusual to start with plate tectonics , anyone else? I started with culture features, but that's just my two cents.

[Robun]

For me, it is natural to start with plate tectonics :

1) Plate tectonics explains the physical geography of the world.
2) Then, we can know the climates.
3) Then, we can know the rivers, the forests, the good soils, etc.
4) We can know the resources (mines, agriculture, fishing...)
5) Then, we can write the history of this world.
6) And only then we can know the cultures (they depend on the history).

[vaja]

Yeah Robun, I see your point. I agree - it's logical to start at this point. But I don't need to know the tectonics, to do what I wan with my conworld. That's why I start with culture, it gives me ground to rise my stories from.
Although I think, the more perfect the world wants to, the better it becomes to start from plate tectonics or even star formation!

[golem]

This is new version of my map:

I've made some changes in several stages, but I didn't show it here... until now. Whole discussion on it is placed here: http://www.spinnoff.com/zbb/viewtopic.php?t=33957

For shape of land masses, I have tried a few better or worse ideas, and I ended up with the shape you know, just because I think it provides good configuration for travelling around the world, at least in case of lowering level of seas and oceans during an ice age. However, I see it is perhaps too much similar to Earth, and I'm going to work on it

[chiarizio]

[Avjunza]

@Chiarizio & golem: It was mostly a joke. Although I am perfectly honest when I say people who say or type "somethink" annoy the fuck out of me.
Sorry if I was too offensive for you foreignors
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[Robun]

This second map is very interesting. I imagine the islands where there is ocean to ocean subduction, the hight mountains where the subduction is ocean to continent...

[golem]

[chiarizio]

[golem]

Update:


This is remake of my previous map. I removed most of land masses, and drew new ones. Arrows show directions of most plates. I know that I should draw more smaller plates, but this is just work in progress.

What do you think about that?

[vaja]

Sorry, but that looks awful and I think you forgot to mark the upper north and the lower south plate. But indeed, it's better to see how the plates move with these arrows.
Maybe you should put some more work in the graphics, these hand-drawn MSPaint-arrows look very sketchy. Nevertheless, it's a good point to start from. Maybe you even think about adding a rotational component to the movement, as chiarizio already suggested? Although, I don't think it's really needed, unless you want to work out the whole conhistory of plate tectonics.

[Robun]

My suggestion : use different colors, or different codes, for the different types of plate boundaries. For example :
- subductions = red line with chevrons + 1 arrow (subducted ocean),
- collisions = thick black lines + 2 black arrows (2 continents),
- transformation fault = thin black line + 2 opposite arrows,
- ocean ridges = blue line + 2 blue opposite arrows,
- hot spots = little red circle (active) or red dot (inactive).

Here is such a map of Earth (they use other colors) :
http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange1/current/lectures/evolving_earth/tectonic_map.jpg

[golem]

[chiarizio]

I'm encouraged, and I hope you are encouraged too (I think you should be).
Take Vaja's opening criticism with a grain of salt and dwell instead on his many compliments to you.

[Cerne]

I am gonna have to say I like the second map (not the second revision) the best. All you need to do with it is follow the guidelines Robun gave you to mark the faultlines and hotspots. Then you are all set to go. Oh, and don't forget to include the key you used.

And ajaja this thread is wide. Is it possible to shrink those images a bit?

[golem]

Cerne, what do you mean by "key"?

[golem]

Update:

[Cerne]

[golem]

Cerne, my final map will be even better than the one you like . After I make my final set of tectonic plates, I will care about details.

[Robun]

An other suggestion : after the "rectangular" map (Mercator), it would be interesting to draw a map of the poles. You may see problems that are not shown in the rectangular map.

[Elyador]

I like this map a lot. Pretty realistic looking geography you got there. I think its cool that you're taking into account the way your planet used to look and how it will look in the distant future. I've never tried doing that before. it looks really cool, and seems like fun too. I'll have to try it sometime.

What have you decided about the climate of your planet? If you're making up your own alien ecology, this will matter a lot. This will obviouly have a huge effect on any civilizations, human or otherwise, that you put on it. Which way does the wind blow over your continents? what parts of the world get a lot of rain, and which ones are dry? are there any trade winds or monsoon cycles (like on earth in the indian ocean, for example) that people can use to get around?

[chiarizio]

I want to "second" Robun's and Elyador's two latest posts to this thread.
_________________
The mark of a good citizen is that he doesn't believe anything if he can help it.
-- W.B. Yapp
-----------------------------
I am also eldin raigmore.