Posts tagged water-bodies
Take a torus planet: It has the structure of a normal planet (ours): The diagram is not to scale. Assume similar proportions of Crust:Mantle:Cores as the Earth. Is has a similar volume (close...
Recently, I found this map of Africa's paleolakes in the Imaginary Maps reddit: Finding this map was mere coincidence, but this map definitely interests me. Now there have been multiple what-if...
First of all, yes I'm Australian, and yes I am using a kangaroo to type this up. If you take a look at Australia, it's a pretty sad place geographically. Very flat, very dry, mostly desert and for...
In this world, a progenitor has created a mass of order out of chaos, with the possibility of entropic fluctuations increasing the further out from the center you get. What do I mean by entropic fl...
One way, I think, is if the gravity is exactly correct. However, while I think the water might be in a unstable equilibrium, I have been unable to work out the mathematics. Let's assume that such a...
Let's assume that there is a lake that has formed from snowmelt and rainfall. The lake has never been in contact with other bodies of water. How might this lake become a complete ecosystem?
For my world I would need a really large swamp (or similar kind of wetland). It should be about 200km in diameter, which should be quite possible given a large enough flat terrain and enough rain. ...
tl;dr : the earth has been gradually flooded, over the course of a few hundred years. Also, there are now large lumps or ice raining out of the sky (not very often), causing massive tsunamis. I ha...
Imagine an Earth-like world in all respects except that the Moon is much much closer. I think I'm right to say if the Moon were very close that tidal forces would slowly rob it of momentum and it ...
Another user's answer to a recent question, specifically the way it was worded, gave me a vision I cannot shake. Our intrepid adventurer, Joe A. Venture, is making his way through a subterranean n...
Many worlds have an apocalyptic/cataclysmic event. If mine is a Great Flood, how long would it take for much of the world to be habitable land again? Keep in mind, by the events of the present, the...
I am working with a story. I wish to make my story somewhat logical by adding some science and thereby not making it to appear fantasy. This story is on a fictional planet far away from Earth. Let...
I was making a planet for a game and I was wondering how the world would be affected if it never had salt water, but instead a huge fresh water supply. Then I thought about what it might do to the ...
I previously asked What measures might an ancient civilization take to protect itself from extreme heat? The answers gave some useful suggestions as to how cities could be adapted. For convenience...
I'm considering the mechanics of a "shock and awe" scene in my novel which could see an old dam being brought down. The era is equivalent to that of the middle Roman empire, so introducing explosiv...
This might be a little difficult to explain, but basically: the concept of "atmospheric ocean" is a gas that is found pretty much everywhere on the planet. Probably very dense and sinks to the surf...
Question: Could a planet contain all of its (vast) oceans underground? I imagined a planet with no surface oceans - and no water cycle above ground - but where life was still possible. My initia...
I'm not talking only about the kind of waves one sees at a sea shore, but also smaller waves like ripples and chops, and bigger waves like tsunamis. Assume a similar tidal force to that of Luna.
My novel is set on a planet covered in 90% water with no moons. How would the lack of natural satellites effect the waves and wind?
I'm worldbuilding a continent that's mostly desertic (still trying to decide if sand or rocky desert, but definitely a hot desert). All the rain would fall on the edges of it, through a chain of mo...
In an Earth-like world with a moon as large as this: Would the larger tides discourage oceanic shipping?
In a setting I am presently working on, I have envisioned a world similar to Star Wars' Takodana, in that its water is mainly in the form of large rivers, or smaller seas (I generally picture it b...
Could one (and how much) generate electricity by building a wall connecting: South Africa to Antarctica South America to Antarctica Northern Canada to Northern Greenland Northern Greenland to Rus...
After writing this question about the ecology of a terraformed planet, I realized that I hadn't quite tied up all the loose ends of the terraforming process itself. I intended for a group of aliens...
Details: Would it be possible to have a mountain spring that only flows occasionally, perhaps only for a few days, following moderate rainfall? The spring water would feed into an otherwise stagn...
How can I explain, in a believable way of course, that country borders closely resemble drainage divides? They don't always match mountain ridges, which are natural borders "“Â as are the rivers th...
How long can a river be? Are there any physical limits on its length, coming from the necessary altitude drop, the triple point of water, or other factors? You can alter whatever parameters you f...
I know it's been proven false in our world, but what is the most plausible mechanism by which an Open Polar Sea could form and persist? I don't mean all the ice melting, but an open sea as it was ...
My premise is that a bay-like body of water empties into a sea via a waterfall. Specifications: The sea is roughly the size and shape of the Mediterranean. The tributary body of water is around 2...
Can the oceans freeze (at least several feet below sea level)? I know that the temperature for salt water to freeze is lower/colder than fresh water, and when it does freeze, the ice is mostly salt...
I know water is required for life on a planet so I got to thinking, is it possible for a world to be a functional planet (plants animals etc.) without polar ice caps and if so, how would it work wi...
Suppose a planet is covered with floating ice on top of water ocean and has no dry land. Would it be possible to establish permanent settlements, cities? Particularly I am interested in technolog...
Suppose one fine day a mischievous god decided to eradicate all air molecules on Earth in an instant, my question is what will hapen to the ocean? Please kindly disregard (omit) your concern for li...
Ok, so I have this planet that I am still building. It is a desert planet, its surfice is almost completely arid with a few exceptions such as snow deserts in the poles. There is sentient life in ...
I am creating a fantasy world where a given race is mystically tied to the planet. Predominately this race will be earth-dwellers, quite happy and content to burrow underground, but I'd like some o...
Apologies; it just didn't seem like an appropriate question for Earth Science or Biology. Let me know if I'm incorrect. Maybe Physics? If all the ice, permafrost, ice caps, etc. melted due to glo...
