Floating Oceans (a Worldbuilding Brainstorm Based on Floating Islands)

[ChaoticanWriter]

Salutations! ... I wrote this one a while ago, and realize going back to it that it makes some major assumptions about how people write stories with floating islands, and applying those to floating oceans as a concept. Brace yourselves! None of this is going to be scientific; its pure fluff.
But its fun!

Floating Oceans (a Worldbuilding Brainstorm Based on Floating Islands)

Today, I explore a thought experiment in worldbuilding, using the concept of floating island to justify floating oceans. Come explore with me!

www.chaoticanwriter.com

 

[ThinkerX]

What you described is similar to a 'strong theoretical possibility' proposed for exo-planets - aka 'water worlds' - planets that are spherical masses of water, albeit super compressed at the core. Floating 'islands' of solid material may be possible.

 

[Genly]

This article is a lot of fun. I'll comment on the scenario of two planets of approximately the same size orbiting close to each other, as that is the one that is easiest to deal with. It is possible for such planets to form and the resulting tides on each of them would be very large. Not as enormous as in the movie Interstellar, as most likely the two planets would always keep the same face towards each other. So changes in sea level caused by tidal variations would be only due to small wobbles in the orientation of the planets, known as libration, not due to rotation like on Earth. What might happen, though, is that the tidal bulges in the oceans would be so large that they might leave some regions of the planet inundated while other parts would be completely dry. A tidal river connecting two seas might experience a very scary tidal current. The long-term stability of the orbits of these planets is not clear, though. Some of them would probably end up colliding with each other.

A note on water worlds. These are likely to have very large water contents (up to 50%, according to simulations). A 100% water world might be rare, as the formation of planets tends to start with grains of dust sticking together. So water worlds would most likely have a rocky core. Also, floating islands would naturally have to be comprised of material less dense than water, like cork or balsa. An island of dirt would just sink.

 

[pmmg]

Thanks for sharing

 

[ChaoticanWriter]

What you described is similar to a 'strong theoretical possibility' proposed for exo-planets - aka 'water worlds' - planets that are spherical masses of water, albeit super compressed at the core. Floating 'islands' of solid material may be possible.

If such an exo-planet (or planet thats part of a distant system) was discovered for study, I would be super excited!

This article is a lot of fun. I'll comment on the scenario of two planets of approximately the same size orbiting close to each other, as that is the one that is easiest to deal with. It is possible for such planets to form and the resulting tides on each of them would be very large. Not as enormous as in the movie Interstellar, as most likely the two planets would always keep the same face towards each other. So changes in sea level caused by tidal variations would be only due to small wobbles in the orientation of the planets, known as libration, not due to rotation like on Earth. What might happen, though, is that the tidal bulges in the oceans would be so large that they might leave some regions of the planet inundated while other parts would be completely dry. A tidal river connecting two seas might experience a very scary tidal current. The long-term stability of the orbits of these planets is not clear, though. Some of them would probably end up colliding with each other.

A note on water worlds. These are likely to have very large water contents (up to 50%, according to simulations). A 100% water world might be rare, as the formation of planets tends to start with grains of dust sticking together. So water worlds would most likely have a rocky core. Also, floating islands would naturally have to be comprised of material less dense than water, like cork or balsa. An island of dirt would just sink.

Thank you! ... I based this mostly on the "because magic and fantasy" basis which governs a lot of floating island appearances. However, I enjoy applying some of the concept to a more reality-based theoretical scenario surrounding. I also would not believe a water-world could be 100% liquid/ice. I don't believe a single mass in space is a singular material (unless you get into extreme examples like black holes.) Even a planet that was 1% water would be an amazing finding, as Earth is 0.02% water. Anything with even 1% makeup of a deep aquatic environment is enough to create a world with unique characteristics.

Thanks for sharing

And thank you for reading! =D