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A Wider Atlantic, A More Southern Australia

The map we'll be using for this question is right here: Basic World Map (V 2.6.) by DinoSpain on DeviantArt This is for an alternate Earth project that I've been working on.

If you find the map overly detailed, let me explain. I use Photoshop, so the political and subpolitical boundaries are the perfect template for me to flood or dry up certain areas using Paint and move others using Magic Wand to create a more believable aesthetic result.

But here, let's focus on the two changes that are both biggest and simplest:

  1. Widen the Atlantic by 1350 miles, putting the Prime Meridian in Lisbon instead of Greenwich. Which creates a landbridge that connects Asia to North America, erasing the Bering Strait off the map and shrinking the Bering Sea. To that extent, it would be like turning the Russian urban locality of Egvekinot (66.3205 degrees North and 179.1184 degrees West) into the next-door neighbor of Teller, Alaska.
  2. Drag Australia so far down southward that the distance between it and Antarctica is cut by half. Which number to cut by half is a little hard to determine, as Google says 3977 miles whereas the Planet Earth companion book says 1500 miles.


The question is not to determine what environmental effects these two changes will have on the world, but what this world map looks like with the two changes listed above.
 

CupofJoe

Myth Weaver
You'd need a Climate Scientist or a Meteorologist to give you anything like a real answer but I'll give you my utterly unscientific response.

Closing the Bering Strait would leave the Arctic sea isolated so that would effect ice in the North Atlantic, as there would be no warm water from the Pacific feeding in to it. If this would lead to more or less icebergs in the Atlantic, I don't know. It would be colder, so more ice, but less currents to break them off... I don't know.
A wider Atlantic would probably mean bigger Hurricanes along the lines of Pacific typhoons, and bigger storms in general. So Britain will probably get colder and wetter... Not much difference there then...

A more southerly Australia [and it was part of Antarctica about 80m years ago] would affect the Antarctic sea. There is a powerful circulation system around Antarctica which leads to huge storms [and is why Antarctic is so very cold]. Some of those storms may be be forced north in to the Indian Ocean or around Indonesia, making the far cooler. The one's forces south would make that bit of the southern sea REALLY rough. Being further south Australia might end up more like New Zealand in climate [one of the nicest places on Earth - I am told] so there could be a lot more farm land and forests.

As I said completely unscientific, just my hunches.

and btw - those maps are great aren't they?
 
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CupofJoe

Myth Weaver
Didn't I just say that I'm NOT looking for an environmental answer?
You say you have Photoshop so it should take you no more than 5 minutes to edit the image and have a look... Why are you interested in making the changes?
 
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You say you have Photoshop so it should take you no more than 5 minutes to edit the image and have a look... Why are you interested in making the changes?

Because, due to my poor judgment of distance, I don't know what 1350 miles look like, or the distance between Australia and Antarctica cut in half. In short, those two changes are something I CAN'T do.
 

CupofJoe

Myth Weaver
Because, due to my poor judgment of distance, I don't know what 1350 miles look like, or the distance between Australia and Antarctica cut in half. In short, those two changes are something I CAN'T do.
Okay...
Actually... I've had a second look at the map and with that curved projection, there will be all sorts of image warping to be done if you wanted to keep the projection looking right. It can be done, but [personally] I'd pick a flat projection map, the same artist has some very fine examples [but without the national boundaries].
Again can I ask why you want to make these changes to the geography? What will be the effect on/in your story?
 
Because the Prime Meridian is in Greenwich, which bugs me because I personally see it as tripping at the finishing line. Because Beringia has been a sea, then a bridge, then back to sea, on and on and on and on--seriously, make up your mind! Because Australia is the most arid continent on Earth, and I loathe the idea of spending a day in a desert.
 

RedAngel

Minstrel
How does this relate to a fantasy story weather or nor Aussies are in the correct location on such a complicated map? Or that most other maps seem to be off by so much when it would be much easier to have a flat map instead? I not trying to be confrontational as much as I am curious.
 

elemtilas

Inkling
But here, let's focus on the two changes that are both biggest and simplest:

  1. Widen the Atlantic by 1350 miles, putting the Prime Meridian in Lisbon instead of Greenwich. Which creates a landbridge that connects Asia to North America, erasing the Bering Strait off the map and shrinking the Bering Sea. To that extent, it would be like turning the Russian urban locality of Egvekinot (66.3205 degrees North and 179.1184 degrees West) into the next-door neighbor of Teller, Alaska.
  2. Drag Australia so far down southward that the distance between it and Antarctica is cut by half. Which number to cut by half is a little hard to determine, as Google says 3977 miles whereas the Planet Earth companion book says 1500 miles.


The question is not to determine what environmental effects these two changes will have on the world, but what this world map looks like with the two changes listed above.

It'll look like this:
shiftedworld_by_elemtilas-dbc8w2h.jpg


Took about five minutes: by a wonderful stroke of eternal Mathematics, 2000km (the scale given on the base map) is about 1240mi --- close enough for government work! I shifted Leftpondia directly west a tadge more than 2000km. I left the Falklands and the Greenland Archipelago in place so you can visualise better. I got rid of the overlapping bits of former coastline up in Beringia. I shifted Underpondia down by 50%, leaving Enzeddistan in place. To keep the Drake Passage in place, I rotated Antarctica anticlockwise by 2000km.

Hope this helps!
 
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skip.knox

toujours gai, archie
Moderator
I recommend asking this question over at the Cartographers Guild. They will be able to provide both answers and tools. Here we are more focused on actual writing of stories.
 

elemtilas

Inkling
You didn't have to change Antarctica--it's neither Old nor New World. It's a good start, but the reason I used this Qbam: Basic World Map (V 2.6.) by DinoSpain on DeviantArt is so that when I use Paint on a subpolitical area, I'd have made a fraction of either an empire or an uplift in a more believable, more natural shape.

Hey friend! This is a gift horse!

You said you "CAN'T" do it, so I thought I'd be a nice neighbour and at least give you a rough idea of what you're looking for. Also, I was momentarily interested myself in what the result might look like. There's really no need to complain that I didn't use your preferred base map. It ain't my manor, and as has already been mentioned, the projection on that map will require more work than it's worth for me to make you a rough sketch. :rolleyes:
 

pmmg

Myth Weaver
I think photoshop is a tool that can do this with. Just got to stick with it and learn something new.
 
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