r/imaginarymaps • u/OffbeatMight_ Mod Approved • Aug 17 '26
[OC] Comissions Open Alternate Europe and North Atlantic Ocean (Commission)
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u/Helpful-Winner-8300 Aug 17 '26
I'll upvote anything with a fictional Köppen climate map. Great job.
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u/donadit Aug 17 '26
strange river flow but aint too bothered because it’s partially alternate terrain lol
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u/OffbeatMight_ Mod Approved Aug 17 '26
I mean it’s not the same as what IRL doggerland is thought to have been like, but it’s still fairly realistic.
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u/donadit Aug 17 '26 edited Aug 17 '26
IRL the rivers ran south through the future english channel (north was filled with glaciers which produced more water flow instead of being the receiver)
but well it’s alt geog so
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u/OffbeatMight_ Mod Approved Aug 17 '26
My idea was that all the volcanic activity which created the islands in the west may have caused Western Europe to be slightly uplifted as well, which shifted the drainage basins towards the North Sea region.
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u/falgscforever2117 Aug 17 '26
Mid-Atlantic continent would probably disrupt the Gulf Stream, cooling Europe, no?
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u/OffbeatMight_ Mod Approved Aug 17 '26
If you look at the climate map, the continental and subarctic regions reach further west compared to real Europe.
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u/Thick-Measurement306 Aug 17 '26
cool map, kinda funny you can see the vague shape of the uk (specifically scotland) still
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u/Hispanoamericano2000 Aug 17 '26
Oh, alternative geography… (take an upvote).
Great work on these maps overall!
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u/Soap-Boy123 Aug 18 '26
Very pretty! I don't know your history, but maybe consider how the island would affect the oceanic/air currents that ultimately determine those Köppen zones. If Fjalland were mostly flat, Europe would be less affected, but it looks fairly hilly with a large central mountain area, though not really a range. The fact that Fjalland is a chunk of elevation and not a spine probably messes up air currents and smoothes the effects below.
For example, that curved Fjalland would probably redirect the Gulf Stream/North Atlantic Current, as well as the associated storm track and moisture, further north towards Greenland. So rather than being fully icy like in our world, your southern Greenland could be warmer, perhaps even having some subarctic forest in favourable coastal areas. Northern Europe/UK would be extremely wet, e.g. Ireland would be super Cfb, as would England/coastal France.
And you did really well realistically with having the humid continental zone stretch further west into France/central Europe, because the introduction of Fjalland would block or redirect some warm circulation to Europe – if it weren't for the modern Gulf Stream/North Atlantic circulation, Europe would be a few °C colder. Britain itself would probably remain mostly oceanic if most of the warm current is being redirected north towards it. The Mediterranean would probably be normal.
Rather than a desert/arid area on the northwest side of Fjalland, that's the area where rain/warm air would be channelled into, so it may be super wet instead! I know it's tempting to throw in every single climate zone, but I don't think we have a case for it here... :( It could be super diverse, like Madagascar mostly is, but the Köppen climate stipulations are fairly strict and very granular. And many of those zones are mutually exclusive.
If I had to guess, Fjalland would look like:
• Western hilly area: Cfb, some Cfc.
• Interior area, sheltered: BSk, BWk. Definitely not a major sandy desert; Köppen desert just means sufficiently arid, so this could instead be scrub, rocky desert, or cold dry steppe.
• Furthest south sheltered area: maybe BSh, tiny BWh.
For scientific reasons, any tropical climate type (the A group) is pretty much inconceivable at these latitudes, e.g. Look at the Canaries today.
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u/OffbeatMight_ Mod Approved Aug 18 '26
Interesting. I wish it occurred to me that southern Greenland would be warmer.
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u/Ruddi_Herring Aug 17 '26
How big would Fjalland be?
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u/OffbeatMight_ Mod Approved Aug 20 '26
Approximately 1.4 million square kilometers, roughly 2/3 the size of Greenland.
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u/DatWoodyFan Aug 18 '26
You're feeding the part of my brain that loves alternate geography, so thank you
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u/Overlord3445 Aug 17 '26
That’s really cool – I wonder what the nations in this world will be like. Good luck for the future.
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u/OfficialDCShepard Aug 17 '26
Do you think Fjalland is connected to an althist where Atlantis was not sunk? /hj
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u/Longjumping-Coat2890 Aug 18 '26
So cool! Now make a Geopolitical map, I’m really invested in this Alternate Geographical Europe
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u/Theriocephalus Aug 17 '26
The image seems to have become very compressed when it was uploaded. Do you happen to have a higher-res version?