spats wrote:Torco wrote:Well, more like -78C° if google is correct. Still, earth reaches those temperatures sometimes, but earth has a less dense atmosphere and less greenhouse effect, so temp shouldn't vary as dramatically on Suenu. Also there's no continents at the poles but there's one pangea that is near the south pole at one latitude. I figure that causes two superficial sea currents along the south coast of the pangea which tend to drag ice from the poles into the ocean. Also, since the rotation is so slow, ocean currents work differently: at the surface the dayside pushes warm water towards the nightside through the poles, and part of that current's bound to go through the poles, in turn warming them. not really warm, but probably enough to melt the eventual dry ice patch that forms... and indeed they form, I'm sure.
It's not so much whether the current setup has landmass at a pole, but rather if it ever did. However, a geologically active planet in the habitable zone with enough gravity to hold onto its volatiles isn't likely to stay in a crashed snowball state forever.
The slow rotation rate actually helps you, for the reasons you brought up. Single-belt rotation or even single-cell (nightside to dayside) circulation is possible in that situation, which allows for a bit better heat distribution across the poles. And you're also right that a little CO2 condensation isn't the end of the world as long as it's more or less in equilibrium with the atmosphere.
yup. Also, I'm toying with the idea of having the planet slowly turn into a snowball over a couple of centuries as to turn it into an apocalyptic conworld, actually CO2 condensation is a good thing.