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| A request to good map-makers | |
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| Topic Started: Nov 4 2009, 08:19 AM (584 Views) | |
| KayKay | Nov 4 2009, 08:19 AM Post #1 |
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Adult
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I'm looking for some help, is anyone interested? My fictional continent needs a map. I have some very rough sketches but I can imagine it's all wrong. The map changes with each epoch and thus it should stick to the workings of plate tectonics (in this area off the S.E. Asia coasts, they are different than in our Earth). I am not very knowledgeable on those things such as continental drift and how geology affects climate and despite trying to learn some of it is just completely beyond my current comprehension. Is anyone up to the task of helping me design some maps? Here is what I need: From Early Jurassic to Late Cretaceous, I have already decided the placement of the biomes so we will have to work around that. I cannot change them, so somehow we will have to design a map which we can place these biomes in and work from the top down, deciding where to place geographical features to allow these biomes to exist. Same goes for it shifting by the epoch - each one will have to be fit around the biome placement. From Paleocene to present day however, we can be much more flexible - that is because I haven't started working on the fauna for this stretch of time yet. Comments in bold are new notes and corrections that have been added if someone has made a useful suggestion. Biome placement: Under each epoch I have listed what I have so far. Any help or correction on these ideas is much appreciated. Early Jurassic: First, there is a large relatively flat stretch of land joined to S.E.Asia by a tiny land bridge. Moving further south, the S.W. meets a backbone mountain range, S. a small plain with a desert within, caused by a rain shadow cast by the mountain range. The rainforest part of the mountain range lies on the Equator and the Southern tip does not reach as far as the Tropic of Capricorn. Its width at its widest point is similar to the width of India. Middle Jurassic A defined backbone mountain range runs the length of the entire continent down the W. coast. It is still wet and covered with rainforest in the North until half-way. Where the land is flat and below the rainforest, moving further South there is aa gradient from rainforest to dry woodland to plains to desert. Touching the South of the continent it gets a little wetter again. The top of the continent cuts through the Equator and the bottom touches the Tropic of Capricorn. Late Jurassic: The North rainforest part is a little shorter (but wider than India) and now lies below the Equator. There is no land link to S.E.Asia. There is a mountain range running down the length of the continent, right at the far W. It casts a large rain shadow over the rest of the right of the continent except the very far E which is plains. Hoping to get about 50% of the continent desert, with a thin band of plains before reaching the N. rainforest. Another mountain range in the middle of the flat low land rainforest arises from two plates that make up the continent pushing together. Hoping to get the very far S. to be a bit wetter, maybe slightly more temperate also, but mostly forest. Cuts under the Tropic of Capricorn. Early Cretaceous: Some kind of link needs to form back between S.E.Asia and the N.W. of the fictional continent. I had a mountainous link, and choosing the creatures that would pass over onto the continent involved eliminating those I didn't think would manage to pass through long distances of mountains. The rainforests have become a slim band over the N. flat top of the continent. The top of the continent lies below the Equator. Tectonic activity has increased, new mountain ranges are being pushed up. The W. backbone mountain range is being eroded down and is now just rocky hills ans small mountains. The middle rainforest mountain range creeps down to the plains and desert. At the N.E. coast, new mountains are rising out of the sea and the surface of the continent is being expanded. Again, gradient moving further S. on the flat low land of the continent Rainforest -> Plains -> Desert. About 60% desert. It was suggested it should be much more humid, maybe about 30% desert instead. The bottom of the continent cuts through the Tropic of Capricorn, but is dry desert, not temperate like previous epoch. Late Cretaceous About half of the W. plate has fallen under the sea on the far West. Thus, have been left islands - 1 and 2, very small rainforest islands close together, 3, close to 1 and 2 but a bit larger and a rainforest island with a small band of plains at the S., 4, a tiny island on the border between plains and rainforests, and 5, A long island that stretches down to the Tropic of Capricorn. 5 is covered in plains and deserts. Where the W. and E. plate meet, the large mountain range has grown to about half the size of the Himalayas. The continent is much larger at the top than bottom. At the S., some mountains have crept up and an island 6 has formed. The N. is all rainforest. Moving S. on the W. plate is plains. Wetted by run-off from the mountain range in the winter, dried out in the summer. On the E. plate there is a similar situation, except with more variation in elevation due to being on eroded mountains, there are more permanent swamps and wetlands. Drier closer to the mountain range. Bottom half is desert let's make this more like bottom piece rather than a whole half, say about 20%. Tropic of Capricorn cuts through middle of desert. Furthest S. tip is wetter, some plains and even small balmy forests. Gets cold in winter, but no ice or snow at these latitudes. The S. island is more temperate forest. Paleocene As of yet undecided. Edited by KayKay, Nov 5 2009, 02:44 AM.
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| Carlos | Nov 4 2009, 09:59 AM Post #2 |
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Adveho in me Lucifero
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I could make a map, but for now I can't upload pics to the internet |
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Lemuria: http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5724950/ Terra Alternativa: http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/forum/460637/ My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Carliro ![]() | |
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| KayKay | Nov 4 2009, 11:44 AM Post #3 |
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Adult
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That's ok, do you know generally how the landscape and climate would change over time? Know anything about how the continent would shift and form? Any ideas and pointers would be good, if nobody can help to produce one I'd still like to try myself but I might need some feedback later if that's ok? I'll update everything in the OP soon, just give me a few minutes. |
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| Carlos | Nov 4 2009, 01:33 PM Post #4 |
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Adveho in me Lucifero
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I have an idea of how things happen. If you have major doubts I'll try to help you |
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Lemuria: http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5724950/ Terra Alternativa: http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/forum/460637/ My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Carliro ![]() | |
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| lamna | Nov 4 2009, 02:23 PM Post #5 |
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Can you email files? Because if you send them to me I can upload them. Or you could just email KayKay. |
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Living Fossils Fósseis Vibos: Reserva Natural 34 MYH, 4 tonne dinosaur. [flash=500,450] Video Magic! [/flash] | |
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| Carlos | Nov 4 2009, 03:16 PM Post #6 |
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Adveho in me Lucifero
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I can't upload pictures to the internet because I can't upload them on a computer. |
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Lemuria: http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5724950/ Terra Alternativa: http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/forum/460637/ My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Carliro ![]() | |
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| KayKay | Nov 4 2009, 04:27 PM Post #7 |
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Adult
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I'd be delighted to hear what you think.
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| Carlos | Nov 4 2009, 06:45 PM Post #8 |
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Adveho in me Lucifero
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I think that the Cretaceous should in general have a more humid climate. Judging by climatic patterns elsewhere, the early Cretaceous version of the island shouldn't have deserts as being so promenient, while in the late Cretaceous an island largely composed by deserts and plains ins unfeasable. Otherwise, its quite good |
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Lemuria: http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5724950/ Terra Alternativa: http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/forum/460637/ My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Carliro ![]() | |
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| KayKay | Nov 5 2009, 02:35 AM Post #9 |
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Adult
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Well, I'll need to keep the deserts, how about changing the proportions about, making it more like 20-30% desert? I was mostly thinking about how the area would be dominated by high pressure systems at its latitude, resulting in very little rain I would have presumed, though I wasn't 100% sure. |
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| Carlos | Nov 5 2009, 02:47 AM Post #10 |
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Adveho in me Lucifero
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Sounds a reasonable amount |
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Lemuria: http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5724950/ Terra Alternativa: http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/forum/460637/ My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Carliro ![]() | |
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| KayKay | Nov 5 2009, 02:53 AM Post #11 |
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Adult
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Awesome, thanks for the advice. Sooner or later I'll get round to producing some sketches to be judged, maybe after breakfast, or after maths. |
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| Holben | Nov 5 2009, 01:35 PM Post #12 |
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Rumbo a la Victoria
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Uurgh, maths. |
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Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea. "It is the old wound my king. It has never healed." | |
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7:19 PM Jul 10