forum Island Geography/Topography Possibilities?

Started April 17, 2018 by C

tune

Farmland? Mineral Deposits? Fresh Water? What's Plausible? How does it work?

well, a lot of the time islands don't have many natural resources. that was partly why japan went to war with china in WW2. because they had basically no oil or coal and wanted to go get some(also a bunch of others but that's a big one). fresh water is plausible, though there'd have to be a spring or something for people to get it from. And lastly, yes, there can be farmland, as long as its an island with soil, not one of those islands made out of coral and only coral. the inhabitants wouldn't be able to produce as much as someone on the mainland would because, you know, land area. Trade would probably be a big part of life there too, unless its a more primitive civilization with fewer people to sustain.

Islands themselves are mostly volcanic, so the possibility for there to be viable farmland is pretty high. In terms of minerals, however, that would depend on the volcano. There aren't many igneous (volcanic) rocks that are worth building with unless you've got magic, but obsidian is very valuable for both its looks and the fact that it can fracture and have an edge sharper than steel. Underwater aqueducts are an option for getting water, but your inhabitants will have to know what they're doing, otherwise they could get sick. If we're going off of islands like Japan, then finding good quality metals will be a challenge. Many times, smiths will have to create their own steel using crappy iron they found in the beach or something like that, and impurities will be common. We all see katanas as, like, the greatest swords ever, but they weren't perfect. Given the chance, 9 smiths out of 10 will choose the super pure, fresh out of the factory steel that we have today.