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1Wyrmshadow1 In reply to Neethis [2011-01-08 09:44:23 +0000 UTC]

Lots of height maps are available of Mars online. The lakes are an affect of a tool included in the program I used, Fractal Terrains. It's called 'fill basins as lakes'. So that's why so many southern craters are filled in, far from the northern ocean. This was a request.

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Neethis In reply to 1Wyrmshadow1 [2011-01-08 10:07:34 +0000 UTC]

Ahh ok My main trouble is the lakes on the highlands - a terraformed Mars probably wouldn't have enough atmospheric pressure on the highlands like Tharsis and Elysium to keep liquid lakes in the open air

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1Wyrmshadow1 In reply to Neethis [2011-01-08 10:57:06 +0000 UTC]

true.. the program isn't that smart to take into account air pressure like that. It only does tempurature vs. altitude calculations. But the majority of Tharsis is really just 2 miles 'up'. It only goes into the crazy distances near the 4 volcanoes.

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Neethis In reply to 1Wyrmshadow1 [2011-01-08 14:05:38 +0000 UTC]

Still, the majority of weather systems would be bent around the bulge, rather than rising above it, leaving the area lacking in rain - it's not so much the absolute altitude, but the rapid change in height which is important ^ ^

Sorry, I don't mean to come across as arrogant, I've just done a lot of research into this... lol I like the map all the same; there's not nearly enough alt/future history stuff based on a terraformed Mars.

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1Wyrmshadow1 In reply to Neethis [2011-01-08 16:04:55 +0000 UTC]

I know, but like I said, the program I used isn't all that sophisticated for $25.

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K-Haderach In reply to 1Wyrmshadow1 [2011-01-08 11:14:04 +0000 UTC]

It all depends on how thick we want to make the atmosphere. Is it thick enough to provide 1 Earth atm worth of pressure at the Martian sea level? Then we can definitely have liquid water on Tharsis (and will probably WANT to put lakes there, to stop it turning into a high desert).

It's still going to be a very cold plateau, though. Those lakes are going to freeze a lot.

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1Wyrmshadow1 In reply to K-Haderach [2011-01-08 11:15:04 +0000 UTC]

It's the same map I used to make my terraformed Mars. Go there to compare.

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K-Haderach In reply to Neethis [2011-01-08 10:26:36 +0000 UTC]

The thing is, without lakes, a lot of the southern hemisphere would end up as desert. So I'd say that having all these lakes is very important in order to have a healthy biosphere on Mars.

You're right about the lakes on Tharsis, but they can easily be deleted by hand on this map.

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Neethis In reply to K-Haderach [2011-01-08 14:10:43 +0000 UTC]

Definately, a few large southern lakes would be beneficial It'd be a trouble to keep them, though; water would have a natural tendancy to stick to the warmer, lower north, and only really pool in the big southern basins of Argyre and Hellas. Hellas and Argyre are both surrounded by mountains too, limiting their potential as evaporation sources Maybe it'd be easier just to build canals deep into the southern uplands...?

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