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Undersea topography?

Ireth

Myth Weaver
I'm working on a WIP that focuses on merfolk and takes place entirely underwater. I have a randomly-generated map to help me locate where the land masses/coastlines and such are, but that's only helpful to a point at determining the look of things off the coasts. Stuff like the location of reefs, trenches, volcanic islands, etc. And especially how currents would work. Can anyone help me find resources on that sort of thing so I at least have something to springboard off of?
 

TheKillerBs

Maester
Stuff like the location of reefs, trenches, volcanic islands, etc.
These are all tied to plate tectonics. You'll find reefs in the sub-littoral zone, which is the relatively shallow part of the ocean between the coast and the edge of the continental shelf. You'll find trenches in subduction zones and volcanic islands basically in any plate boundary, as well as on hotspots in the middle of oceanic plates (like Hawaii). In subduction zones, volcanic islands are found in volcanic arcs (e.g., Japan), while in divergent boundaries you'll find them in mid-ocean ridges (e.g., Iceland). This guide for adding plate tectonics to an existing map seems handy.
And especially how currents would work.
Artifexian recently uploaded a video on this.
 
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