Volcanoes in Almea

[Mornche Geddick]

I have just been reading Colin Humphrey's The Miracles of Exodus and I was struck by his remark that in the ancient world, holy mountains were often active volcanoes. A famous example is Mt Etna in Sicily, believed to be the site of Vulcan's forge.

Can anyone tell me where the famous Almean volcanoes are and if any of them are associated with mythology?

[zompist]

Hmm, I should really work out where all the plate boundaries are. (And learn some geology....)

There's probably not much in Eretald since the mountains there are from continental plates colliding.

Sea plates meeting continental plates make for the most spectacular volcanoes.... offhand I'd say Skouras, Bekkai, Mnese, and Kereminth are the most likely to have these.

Rifts generate volcanoes too, so there should be some constant though lower-volume volcanoes in Moreo Ashcai, the Zei Escrin, the Island Sea, and the rift valleys of Arcel.

[Ancenande]

Just by looking at your maps, I can tell that the plate boundaries in Almea probably are at the bottom of the sea. You see, unlike Earth, Almea has mountains at the middle of continents and nowhere else. If the plate boundaries were located where continents and sea meet, like Earth, your mountains would be near the coast. Since that's not the case, you can tell that the plate boundaries are either at the middle of oceans or at the middle of continents.

Unless a wizard did it.

[zompist]

Well, they're not all in the middle of continents; I listed some areas with mountains near the sea. (And if they're not that near the sea I might move some of them...)

[Zerrakhi]

Hmm, I should really work out where all the plate boundaries are. (And learn some geology....)

My father is a geologist, working as a consultant to the oil industry.

One question about continental drift to which I don't know the answer is how chaotic it is over long periods (in the mathematical sense). I mean, if a butterfly living in the magma (possibly some sort of slamon, for those of you who understand that reference) had flapped its wings sometime in the Precambrian, slightly disturbing the convection forces that drive continental drift, would our modern continents have acquired completely different positions and shapes? I don't know the answer, but I've often wondered.

[con quesa]

Somewhat tangentially, how much of Almea's phyiscal geography is set in stone? Where, if anywhere, haven't you decided the exact shape of the land yet? And how long has it been that way?

[vohpenonomae]

If the plate boundaries were located where continents and sea meet, like Earth, your mountains would be near the coast. Since that's not the case, you can tell that the plate boundaries are either at the middle of oceans or at the middle of continents.

It's also possible that the Erelae continent has many healed or partly-healed faults in its interior, like North America; the Ozarks and the mountains of the Lake Superior rift valley are two well-known examples of this. It's possible Erelae began as a much smaller craton, just like NA, and the interior mountains could allow you to trace how it was built up through progressive collision and accretion. Accretion of coastal plain, in fact, could help account for why the mountains aren't near the coasts.

[zompist]

Somewhat tangentially, how much of Almea's phyiscal geography is set in stone? Where, if anywhere, haven't you decided the exact shape of the land yet? And how long has it been that way?

Anything that's only on the world map is pretty easily changed (since there's only a few maps to update).

[Niedokonany]

Since that's not the case, you can tell that the plate boundaries are either at the middle of oceans or at the middle of continents..

Or that once they were there (compare Ural). However, in that case the mountains would have to be quite old and eroded.