#plate tectonics

[389]

Sulfur, salt, and other minerals color the crater of Dallol volcano, part of the Danakil Depression in Ethiopia. At 157 feet (48 meters) below sea level, Dallol is Earth's lowest land volcano.

Photograph by Carsten Peter

[sillyimage]

x

[sportsandlaughs]

[mindblowingscience]

As Africa and Eurasia slowly collide, Earth's rumblings paint a seismographic picture of what once was a piece of our planet's surface now lying upside down deep beneath the Mediterranean. Spain's unusually prone to rare, deep earthquakes, and a new study suggests this capsized tectonic slab might have something to do with it.

Continue Reading.

[gaesnek]

okay okay okay so i haven't been tism about this yet (publicly) but like i really need people to hear about this

for ages scientists have been trying to drill into the mantle with things like the kola super-deep bore hole and just a few days ago... they still haven't.

BUT THEY DID HARVEST ROCK FROM IT AND THIS IS WHERE IT GETS COOL!

Geologists managed to extract a kilometer long core sample of mantle rock through the Atlantis Massif and a "tectonic window" which basically means mantle rock was pushed up into the crust by tectonic shifting and got close enough to the surface seafloor that they were able to use a bore drill to harvest samples

now the reason that this is a major breakthrough for geology (and i would use all caps but i don't want to scare some of my mutuals away from this) is that this KILOMETER long sample could potentially change a lot of the things we know about plate tectonics, magma convection currents, earthquakes (falls under plate tectonics but important enough to get it's own mention), and geology in general.

What they find from analyzing the sample might change what you learn in school and that is any scientists DREAM

I am actually shaking bc of how exciting this is and i need everyone around me to be doing the same

[cmaidaartworkblog]

These screenshots I took in Blender are the final product of a commission I worked on for over a year, of my client's planet Ayrum. These represent the planet as it appears at the Northern Spring Equinox, at various angles and different times of day. This project had multiple phases and produced many maps and figures, so I'll be making multiple posts about it over the course of multiple days, working from the earliest results up to the images used in these screenshots.

First, the tectonic history sequence, covering about 600 million years of activity. The colors of continental crust in the gif's top half represent which plate it will belong to in the end, and the colors used in the bottom half represent what plates they belong to at the time

With the tectonic history settled, it's easier to determine what the topography should look like. The two greyscale elevation maps start from the lowest trench depth and from sea level respectively, and the color-graded elevation map has dry land differentiated from bodies of water.

Dipping into Blender once again, with some screenshots where I used the color-graded elevation map as the image texture and the greyscale elevation map as the displacement texture, to emphasize the topography. This will be all for today, but there is much more to come. These maps were made for the user @umbrace-ramble, to whom I am very thankful for this commission and all the experience it inspired me to gain. Rendered in Photopea with the aid of Blender, screenshots taken in Blender, November 2022-January 2024

[thecreaturecodex]

Protean, Renegwe

"Fang of Nulzann" © Hex Entertainment, by Martin de Diego. Accessed at his deviantArt here

[My final original species of protean, this time embodying plate tectonics as a manifestation of change. I knew I wanted to do a continental drift-themed protean, and this was one of the first art pieces I found when embarking on this project. As a reminder, all of my protean species have a name that's an anagram. I'll be posting the solutions to those at the end of the week.]

Protean, Renegwe CR 19 CN Outsider (extraplanar) This massive creature appears like a snake with a humanoid torso, its body composed of black volcanic rock. A snort hood grows between its head and neck, and a pair of horns like bent stalagmites grows from its head. It shimmers with heat.

A renegwe is a protean devoted to some of the most dramatic changes in the cosmos—plate tectonics. Renegwes are the shepherds of whole continents, observing them move over the course of thousands or millions of years, and steering them if their whims dictate they speed up or slow down. Rather than the immediate thrills of transforming a person into an animal, or the destruction of killing enemies and overthrowing governments, renegwes prefer the gradual pleasures of growing mountains, eroding canyons and rock formation. That is not to say that they cannot be dramatic—a renegwe who grows bored with a landmass’ progress might start earthquakes with magic, or heat up a lava reservoir to re-activate a dormant volcano. 

Few renegwes care much about the short lives of humanoids directly, but may become territorial of particular mineral deposits and protect them from mining or other exploitation. They might also come into conflict with magical creatures that seek to stop or mitigate the destruction their earthquakes and volcanoes engender. A renegwe prefers to fight atop or within a solid surface—although they can fly, they feel much more comfortable when touching earth or stone. Renegwes spew lava from their mouths and can fire exploding boulders from their hands. They have relatively few spell-like abilities compared to other proteans, and prefer simple melee tactics to pitched battles at a distance. 

Renegwes are more common outside the Maelstrom than in it. They dwell mostly deep underground on planets of the Material Planes, or in places where the Planes of Earth and Fire overlap. From these magma-rich bastions, they may plot against the shaitans and efreeti—both of these genies types are lawful, and seek to impose order where the renegwes prefer chaos. Renegwes are natural allies of magma dragons, but these allegiances may be fractious and marked by power struggles. Few renegwes have much interest in the politics of the protean choirs, but may work for a given protean lord on a temporary basis when their interests overlap. The protean lord most sympathetic to the renegwes is Etna, herself a being of volcanic power.

Renegwe        CR 19 XP 204,800 CN Gargantuan outsider (chaotic, earth, extraplanar, fire, protean) Init +6; Senses blindsight 60 ft., darkvision 60 ft., Perception +31, tremorsense 120 ft. Aura cloak of chaos (DC 26)

Defense AC 34, touch 12, flat-footed 32 (-4 size, +2 Dex, +4 deflection, +22 natural) hp 330 (20d10+220) Fort +23, Ref +20, Will +26 DR 15/adamantine and lawful; Immune acid, fire; Resist electricity 10, sonic 10; SR 30 Defensive Abilities amorphous anatomy, fiery body, freedom of movement, rock catching

Offense Speed 40 ft., burrow 80 ft. (earth glide), fly 80 ft. (good) Melee bite +31 (2d8+15 plus 2d6 fire), gore +31 (2d8+15 plus 2d6 fire), 2 claws +31 (2d6+15/19-20 plus 2d6 fire), tail slap +29 (2d8+7 plus 2d6 fire plus grab) Ranged 2 lava bombs +18 touch (4d6 bludgeoning plus 2d6 fire) Space 20 ft.; Reach 20 ft. Special Attacks breath weapon (80 ft. cone, 20d6 fire, Ref DC 31), earth mastery, trample (2d8+22 plus 2d6 fire, DC 35)

Spell-like Abilities CL 19th, concentration +27 Constant—cloak of chaos (self only, DC 26) At will—chaos hammer (DC 22), scorching ray, stone shape 3/day—earthquake, empowered flame strike (DC 23), greater dispel magic, quickened wall of stone, word of chaos (DC 25) 1/day—clashing rocks (DC 27), repel metal or stone, wall of lava (DC 26)

Statistics Str 41, Dex 15, Con 32, Int 14, Wis27, Cha 26 Base Atk +20; CMB +39 (+41 bull rush, +43 grapple); CMD 55 (57 vs. bull rush, cannot be tripped) Feats Awesome Blow, Combat Reflexes, Empowered SLA (flame strike), Flyby Attack, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical (claw), Improved Initiative, Multiattack, Power Attack, Quicken SLA (wall of stone) Skills Bluff +29, Disguise +26, Fly +25, Intimidate +29, Knowledge (geography, planes) +23, Perception +31, Sense Motive +29, Survival +29 Languages Abyssal, Draconic, Ignan, Protean, Terran, telepathy 100 ft. SQ change shape (dragon or elemental, elemental shape IV or form of the dragon III), no breath 

Ecology Environment underground (Maelstrom) Organization solitary, pair or geoform (3-6) Treasure standard

Special Abilities Breath Weapon (Su) Any creature that takes damage from a renegwe’s breath weapon is coated in lava, taking 10d6 points of fire damage for the next 1d3 rounds (no save). Change Shape (Su) A renegwe can change shape at will, but does not gain the healing from changing shape as is typical for proteans. It can only assume the form of dragons or elementals with the earth or fire subtypes. Earth Mastery (Ex) When both a renegwe and its opponent are touching the ground, the renegwe gains a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls. Fiery Body (Ex) A renegwe’s body is blazing hot. It deals 2d6 points of fire damage with all of its natural attacks, and any creature striking it with a melee touch attack, natural weapon or unarmed strike takes 2d6 points of fire damage. Lava Bombs (Su) As a standard action, a renegwe can fire two lava bombs, one from each hand. Each lava bomb is treated as a ranged touch attack with a range of 200 feet and no range incremenent. A creature struck takes 4d6 points of bludgeoning damage and 2d6 fire, and then the lava bomb explodes, dealing 10d6 points of fire damage in a 40 foot radius (Reflex DC 29 half). If a creature is in the radius of both lava bombs, it makes a single save at a -4 penalty, and treats the fire damage as coming from a single source. A renegwe can use its lava bombs once every 1d4 rounds. The save DC is Charisma based.

[humans-are-space-florida]

Did you know that Earth is the only planet observed to have tectonic plates? That means earthquakes caused by plate tectonics are seemingly unique to our own planet.

If we do find aliens they would likely live on a planet without tectonic plates and I think that they would find that the ground we stand on is constantly shifting beneath us and will cause volcanoes and earthquakes quite scary

[nemfrog]

"The Earth before the Separation." The playbook of metals. 1862.

Science History Institute

[dorofaeya]

Aah, nice cooperative world building project you have here, would be a shame if someone threw some Anthropology, plate tectonics and linguistics in there.

[jomindraws]

2 Billion years of Tectonic History for Jom'Gol !!!!

After simulating the plate tectonics for an excruciating 2.5 billion years (not irl time, but might as well have been), I made this crude animation of the previous 2.5 billion years of tectonic history!

Although very crude, the simple borders represent landmasses, the scratchy lines represent orogeny or mountain ranges. Every frame is 50 million years (date listed at the top). (also little sounds in there too .w.)

I intend to add an additional space in between each frame for every 25 million years, then probably color them with a basic topographic map. Until then !!! I continue on !!!!

[jovial-thunder]

Reading up on the geology of the Philippines and it's got me 😱

Like "oh the subduction zone off the west coast of the Americas that result in what you call the Ring of Fire? Yeah we have TWO OF THEM pointed right at each other at point blank. With a slip strike fault (e.g. San Andreas) straight down the middle for good measure."

Some real Fifth Season energy from Wikipedia: "Active subduction disturbs the Earth's crust, leading to volcanic activity, earthquakes, and tsunamis, making the Philippines one of the most geologically hazard-prone regions on Earth."

[eopederson]

Mörk meginlandsplötu, Reykjanesbær, ísland, 2023.

The suture between the Eurasian (right) and North American (left) tectonic plates, among other things a prime explanation of the volcanic activity in the region and in ísland more generally. The slow moving apart of the plates has created cracks in the mantle through which lava can rise to the earth's surface. The two sides of this small rift are moving apart at annual rates measurable with a meter stick! This scene is about 25 km from the area under warning of a potential volcanic eruption at Grindavik.

I never cease to be amazed that I am old enough to remember when plate tectonics was considered an unproven theory, and it was discussed with a modicum of skepticism in earth science courses when I was an undergraduate. Now plate tectonics is to earth science as evolution is to biology, something so basic that little can be understood with out reference to it.

[mindblowingscience]

While it's the reigning theory now, the road to acceptance was long and bumpy for plate tectonics, which describes how large portions of Earth's crust slide, grind, rise and sink ever so slowly across its sludgy mantle. But even now, more than half a century after it was given the scientific tick of approval, the theory needs some refining.

Continue Reading.

[biostatprof]

Slowly the two parts of Portugal separated

[novinitumd]

Crelog #2

(for optimal viewing, please use a computer and blog address ^^)

This is the second Novinitum D crelog! (a.k.a. creator log. I know, very creative). These are basically like devlogs but for my specevo and worldbuilding projects. Entries where it's me updating yall on the behind-the-scenes stuff and also asking for feedback on occasion, maybe even a poll, we'll see.

It's been a while! Happy 2024! In this entry I'll be discussing some major changes about the planet + a tentative list of seeding taxa! It's very brief but I think I owe it to the very small handful of people who've shown interest in this project.

sneak peak into what this crelog features

Previous crelog [#1] <- [#2] -> Next crelog [#3] 🗒️Crelogs🗒️

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the state of the world map at 0 MY (the massive blank space is part of a plate which is too big for gplates to render)

The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that not only is this an entirely different map, but that I'm starting from an entirely different method. Instead of starting with a super continent which splits apart - like in Worldbuilding Pasta's method (link to their blog here) - I've started from the oceanic plates first, essentially starting the world from scratch. The map at 50 MY will be seen when I reveal the name of the first time period.

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This list is very tentative but most likely will stay the same:

Animals:

Operculaurisichthys

made up fully pelagic Grimothea species

reef building oysters

scallops

copepods

made up Argyroneta species

clam shrimp of marine and freshwater varieties

made up thalattosuchian genus

made up starfish genus

made up Ptychoceras species

made up Squalus species

made up lanternfish species

made up pycnodont species

Plants:

Zostera marina

indeterminate algae

Valonia ventricosa

indeterminate phytoplankton

Fungi:

marine lichens (I know these aren't true fungi but for simplicity's sake they're here)

That's all for now! There should be more coming soon since progress has been incredibly quick since the change in plate tectonic method