Alternate History Thread III

[Disenfrancised]

Separately from that, an altgeography idea - we already had a smaller/nonexistant Mediterranean Sea, but what about a Mediterranean Ocean (with a natural Suez Strait)? Sadly I am not all that good at this kind of althist, but we have some people here who are, so what do they think?

When will you have it form? Its necessary to have a land bridge and get people out of africa soon enough, plus it will change weather systems quite alot (at a guess a more dynamic red sea and more fertile red sea coasts, and a stormier Eastern Med. The Red Sea Hills in eygpt would have proper functioning rivers leading to the Nile, probably making eygpt much more powerful whilst reducing its isolation.

Alos the red sea wouldn't be red anymore

 

[silver 2039]

Disenfranchised!! Update!!

 

[das]

When will you have it form?

Well, when will you suggest? I already said that I have little experience at this sort of thing.

Its necessary to have a land bridge and get people out of africa soon enough

Why?

No, really, it may be more fun to lock them up in Africa until they learn to cross the Suez Strait.

The Red Sea Hills in eygpt would have proper functioning rivers leading to the Nile, probably making eygpt much more powerful whilst reducing its isolation.

But with less desert, there will be less reason for it to unite; it will develop at a later point...

The first thing that comes to mind, civilization-wise, is that the Red Sea will be like the OTL Mediterranean, only better. There will be powerful "Arabic" (ofcourse, all ethnicities will be radically different...) city states on both sides of the Red Sea, with prospering commerce and eventual colonies. The Red Sea will probably be the cradle of human civilization in this world, or at least one of these cradles.

Btw, what influence will this have on the rest of the Mediterranean? Won't anything be flooded (or perhaps the opposite will take place now that water could travel more freely=more islands)? And what about the Indian Ocean?

 

[Kal'thzar]

Btw, what influence will this have on the rest of the Mediterranean? Won't anything be flooded (or perhaps the opposite will take place now that water could travel more freely=more islands)? And what about the Indian Ocean?

with a natural Suez, the med might develop tides, not sure. Which will be intresting in and of itself. This will result in more wear and tear -> more islands. Curious.

 

[das]

Polygraecia?

 

[Kal'thzar]

Yeah, pretty much

I could muck around with the map editor, on the understanding that i have no real comprehension of what the real effects would be

 

[das]

Lets first try and establish the main effects at least, and then have you muck around along those guidelines.

 

[Kal'thzar]

Just doing some general reading, it would be intresting to note that if Polygraecia did occur there would be lots of Tidal Islands (you know, ones with a landbridge at low tide). giving you a large amounts of fortress's that would be REALLY hard to take

-does more research.

 

[Kal'thzar]

ok, general research. Conclusions only casually tied to research

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_Sea
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messinian_Salinity_Crisis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_surface_wave

2nd ones important to read, methinks. Determines how much the rivers dig down into the meds basin, and i THINK thats a contributing factor to the depth of the Med (average 1.5km, deepest point approx 5k).

And if my meagre understanding is correct, destructive waves are more likly to occur with deeper water quickly changing to shallow water. (thus breaks on that point, rapidly, rather than slowly changing etc.)

So depending on how or when the natural suez occurs, determines the depth of the water, and thus how eroded the med is. ( you'll got more erosion anyway, but it will be more locally, than widespread).

uhmm yeah, lets overlook everything i overlooked there *cough*.

 

[das]

Well I am obviously suggesting the opposite to the MSC; not sure if we could simply make all effects opposite to what has been outlined there...

Well, we might as well do it in the same Messinian stage, I suppose.

 

[Kal'thzar]

Your saying that; the straits never closed, same level of salinity as the Atlantic, as well as different aquatic life etc? As well as a shallower med. (storms would be slightly less destructive?).

 

[das]

Well, basically yes, I suppose. Any maps?

 

[Kal'thzar]

I can try do one, just need to decide where the most destructive waves are going to occur.

Important point, how large is this natural suez, and the Straits, how large are they?

 

[das]

Up to you, just make sure that they exist.

 

[Kal'thzar]

I deceided to make the straits abit more intresting

 

[Kal'thzar]

mhmm Not sure how far I should have gone with that, I'm actually unsure wether the Red sea would allow much waves in, it being lowly effected by tides in the first place (see south bit were it closes in a bit).

Still the maps fun

no leg, but a hand emerges.

http://img49.imageshack.us/my.php?image=altgeomapsb8.png

 

[das]

By all means.

*wonders if anyone apart from himself, Kal and Dis is even remotely interested in this*

EDIT: VERY weird crosspost, on several counts.

Interesting map, although the smilie in Libya looks suspicious. I was thinking about a Gibraltar Island myself...

 

[Kal'thzar]

although the smilie in Libya looks suspicious

Coincedence *cough*

 

[Dachs]

Italy looks just hideous.

 

[Kal'thzar]

I know, I couldn't decide what to do with it.