What determines distribution of natural resources?
I am currently creating a world from scratch, and while I have a map, I still need to figure out distribution of natural resources.
For resources like fossil fuels, while many do appear in deserts, I know that that isn't a prerequisites because fossil fuels also show up in places like Pennsylvania and Alaska. Are there specific geographic or geological features that determine where fossil fuels appear, or is it random? Also, along with this, are there specific features that determine where minerals (specifically precious stones, precious metals, and rare earth elements) appear?
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1 answer
You can look quite a long way back into the planet's history to answer this.
Stars are formed from giant gas clouds called nebulae. When enough material accumulates in the nebula, it collapses under its own gravity. As it does so, the pressure causes a temperature increase. Eventually, nuclear fusion of hydrogen begins and a star is formed. The left over material in the nebula accumulates to form planets and asteroids.
The distribution, therefore, is a little bit random. The distribution of resources on a planet when it initially forms is determined by what resources are in the area it formed from.
After the planet forms, other processes such as tectonic movement and convection currents can alter the distribution of resources.
Tectonic movement is the large-scale movement of continental scale landmasses through propulsion by convection currents. This means that, as I'm sure you know, the tectonic plates move around, along with all the resources contained within them. The convection currents themselves can melt resources in the bottom of the plates and move them around.
So, to work out where your resources should go, you need to either pick randomly, pick to suit your story, or just run a random generator.
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