Re: Glacierless worlds

From: Rhys Greenbrier (grnbrier_at_earthlinkx.next)
Date: 02/18/05 

Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2005 05:08:06 GMT

In article <BbbRd.32298$uc.27535@trnddc03>,
 "Logan Kearsley" <chrono.surfer@verizon.net> wrote:

> So I'm designing a world where the thallasogen is ammonia rather than water.
> Since ammonia is denser as a solid than as a liquid, it won't tend to melt
> when compressed, so large piles of ammonia snow won't cement themselves into
> solid sheets. Ergo, no glaciers.
>
> I think I've got a pretty good grasp of what that means I'll be leaving off
> of the world map- no glacier-carved plains or lakes, no fjords. But I'm
> nowhere near an expert on this sort of thing, so any help here would be
> appreciated.
>
> Additionally, I have not the slightest clue how a large pile of ammonia snow
> /would/ behave. Might I end up with seasonal 'powder rivers' that carve
> features in the landscape? I don't know. So, some ideas of what sorts of
> features I would end up with as a replacement for glacier-derived ones would
> also be even more appreciated.
>
> -l.

You would have some trouble with the amonia ice. Long ago I read a story
about a world where the ice was ammonia and the world kept getting
colder because ammonia ice sinks instead of floating. It would sink to
the bottom of lakes and such and not thaw very easily.

My memory of the story keeps telling me it was a story about Van Rijn by
Poul Anderson but I have been unable to track down the story.

Rhys

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