Shanda
Shanda
The Plates
Shanda, like many planets supporting life, has vast moving plates on its mantle. Unique to Shanda, these plates were formed during the Great Chomdi Disaster, during which a large portion of the moon, Tono, collided with the planet. Five plates were formed by the massive impact, and are the cause of current quakes and a great number of active volcanoes.
These plates are different from normal planetary tectonics in more ways then their beginning, however. Shandan plates move in a more limited manner then most geologically active tectonic plates. The faults surrounding the plates are jagged cracks, preventing shifts on an average basis, and creating mass build-up of stress. Such stress later causes quakes, but because the faults are generally far from inhabited areas, under oceans land quakes are rare. The common outcome of these watery tremblings are tidal waves.
Volcanoes are scattered along all faults, except for the Upper and Lower Dividing Faults. A scarce number of six volcanoes are located on land, and these are relatively small and inactive. The larger, more dangerous volcanoes are within the waters of the oceans. These volcanoes are extremely active, and grow rapidly. Few, all of them being relatively young, have succeeded in bringing their summits above the water to form uninhabitable islands.
The Chomdi Crater, formed when the moon collided with the planet’s crust, is at the center of it all. The crater reaches from the east coast of the Mainland to the northwestern coast of the Homeland. It is the eye of the geological storm begun with its creation. Though atmospheric storms are common within and around the crater, few quakes occur there, and the surrounding volcanoes are rather quiet. The crater is slowly being submerged by the two plates that border it.
The lower portion of the Chomdi Fault, that surrounds that Chomdi Crater, is a collision boundary. The unsplit section of the Dividing Fault, the upper Chomdi Fault, and the Dark Sea Fault are all sliding boundaries. The Upper and Lower Dividing Faults are both diverging boundaries.
Shandan Plates
Shandan Fault Lines
Currents
Air and water currents on Shanda, like many terrestrial planets, act as filters and climate controls, as well as travel ways for journeying beings. However, the Shandan currents have been altered by the vast changes that came over the planet during the Chomdi Disaster. The only remainder of the original patterns are the few crumbling ridges within the oceans and evidence of environmental changes during and after the disaster.
There are three main water currents on Shanda. The Dark Sea Current, Crater Current, and Rodapath Current. The Dark Sea Current is a cold current coming down from the northern pole, above Ngenshi. The main current breaks along the top of the Mainland and runs all the way down to the Dividing Ocean on the western side of the Mainland. To the east it runs around Ngenshi and through the Dark Sea. The Dark Sea Current causes the northern portion of the Mainland to have large deserts, and drier seasons. Ngenshi, also affected by the cold current, has harsh, dry cold seasons and remains iced over on the northern shores because of the constant cold. The Crater Current, actually two currents moving in separate directions, north and south, is centered around the Chomdi Crater. The Crater Currents are the only warm currents on Shanda, and they are believed to originate within the crater itself. Both currents are slow moving and smaller then the Dark Sea Current. The eastern reaches of the two currents wrap around that Homeland and make the small continent the closest thing to tropical on Shanda. The lower Crater Current reaches down to Rodapath and keeps the northern section of the continent warm enough to melt the snow during the warmer seasons. The upper Crater Current also makes that eastern shore of the Mainland warm and more lush then other areas. The Rodapath Current is believed to be the only original water current left to Shanda and is the smallest of the three.
Like the water currents, there are three main air currents in Shanda’s atmosphere, the Western Loop Current, Shandan Wind Axis, and the Lower Clip Winds. The Western Loop Current is a strange wind system believed to recycle the cool, dry atmosphere of Rodapath with the more fresh, moist air of the Mainland. The winds in the Western Loop are slow moving and higher in the atmosphere, thus preventing the current from creating hurricanes or funnel storms as its shape would suggest that it would. The fast, cold air is brought up from the southern pole by the Lower Clip Winds. This wind system’s speed and location in the lower atmosphere make it the direct cause of a great many storms. Mostly smaller funnel storms are sent out from the area, few reach the shores, but from time to time massive hurricanes are brewed. The Homeland is the land mass that is most affected by the Clip Winds and it is hit by the storms most often. The Shandan Wind Axis is the longest and most powerful of the wind currents. Wrapping around the entire planet and later merging in with the weaker Clip Winds, the Axis System is the most traveled airway in Shanda. Every passing, thousands of avian species migrate from Rodapath to Ngenshi riding the Shandan Wind Axis. It is the cause for few storms, mostly small funnel storms if any, and it is also known for its linkage with the Dark Sea Ocean Current and the Rodapath Ocean Current.
Shandan Water Currents
Shandan Air Currents
Atmosphere and Inner Planet
Shandan atmosphere is similar to that of Earth. It is about 75% nitrogen, 14% oxygen, 3% argon, 5% carbon dioxide and water, 2% methane, and the remaining 1% consists of a mixture of gases.
The structure of the Shandan atmosphere is very close to that of Earth. It is roughly 100 km thinner, and has several more separate layers than Earth. The ozonosphere and ionosphere are classified as layers of their own though they both serve the same purpose as their respective layers on Earth. The troposphere, which rises 10 km from the Shandan sea level, unlike that of Earth, contains little storm or cloud networking and it thickness does not vary with latitude. The climate experienced at the surface is only constant in the troposphere. The next layer, the stratosphere, from the tropopause rises 20 km, contains most of the cloud formations and is colder than the average temperature in the Shandan equatorial temperate zones. The ozonosphere, above the stratopause rises 60 km from the Shandan sea level, is warmer then the stratosphere and the troposphere. It absorbs more heat from the planet’s stars then the Earth’s ozone, and not only does it protect Shanda’s surface from harmful light waves, it also stores the heat and keeps the planet’s temperature within a specific range. The ionosphere, from 60 km to 120 km, is a highly ionized section of the Shandan atmosphere. It is somewhat cooler than the ozonosphere, and it is a strangely thin part of the Shandan atmosphere. The Shandan ionosphere acts in much a similar way to Earth reflecting and bending certain light waves before they reach the lower layers or reach space from the surface of the planet. The mesosphere, just above the ionosphere is a thin layer, 120 km from the surface to 140 km, is a warmer layer than the ionosphere, though it is cooler than the surface. The last layer is the thermosphere, 140 km to 200 km, where temperatures rise once again.
Also like Earth, Shanda has a magnetic field, also called the magnetosphere, and radiation belts. The magnetosphere protects the little planet from dangerous particles, solar wind, emitted from the two stars. Without this protection life would be unlikely. The two radiation belts are made of particles that have a composition similar, if not the same, as the solar wind.
The inner structure of Shanda is also similar to Earth. It has four layers, the crust, mantle, outer, and inner core. The inner core is made of liquid iron and is about 1,221 km wide. The outer core of liquid nickel and iron is an average of 2, 442 km wide. The mantle consists of liquid silicates and on average is 814 km wide. The light crust is made up of solid silicates and under the continents is 407 km wide on average.
Shandan Core and Atmosphere
Shandan Magnetosphere
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