notes - Geology and Meteorology of Westeros/Essos

[gemfyre]

There was a short winter a few years after Robert's Rebellion. The current summer has lasted 10 years.
Do these winters affect Essos? Sothoros? Ulthos?

Geology
Doom of Valyria is clearly volcanic eruptions
Winterfell sits on a geothermal area
The mountains hint at very weird plate movements. The Vale has mountain ranges running perpendicular to each other!
Broken Arm of Dorne - seismically active.

Comments

[stawberi.livejournal.com]

I quite liked these:

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2011/05/how-seasons-qworkq-in-a-song-of-ice-and-fire

http://io9.com/5906300/5-scientific-explanations-for-game-of-thrones-messed+up-seasons

http://www.reddit.com/r/AskScienceFiction/comments/1degb5/asoiafdoes_essos_experience_long_winters_in_the/

[akatsuki210.livejournal.com]

I've been wondering about whether the winters reach Essos as well. Do we know what range of latitudes Essos lies at, as compared to Westeros? Given that Dorne is described as being a very arid, hot climate, and is so far south, I wonder whether they'll be spared the brunt of winter as well.

As for the Doom of Valyria, I've always assumed it was the eruption of a supervolcano (like the one that's lurking under Yellowstone).

[gemfyre.livejournal.com]

According the maps in World of Ice and Fire the northern shore of Essos is about at the level of Kings Landing/The Reach, so it's much more southern than the North in Westeros.

A Yellowstone-ish eruption would have affected a large portion of Essos and maybe some of Westeros and Sothoros. Any idea if a winter followed the Doom?

Hah, in the end I know it's all "magic" as GRRM has pawned it off. But it's interesting to think about.

[akatsuki210.livejournal.com]

Ooh, you have World of Ice and Fire? What do you think of it? I was thinking of asking for it as a birthday gift (or maybe Christmas, I forget when it came out), but I saw pretty mixed reviews of it on Amazon, so in the end I didn't.

If the northern part of Essos is about level with King's Landing, it seems like it would be logical for winters to be less severe in Essos. But I could see GRRM writing it such that the seasons are purely magical and give zero fucks about geography--that way the impending really long winter and revival of the White Walkers would be a threat to the whole world, not just northern Westeros.

Hmm, I don't know if there was said to be a winter immediately after the Doom of Valyria. It would be cool if there was, and it was the Long Night (the longest, harshest winter in history IIRC).

[gemfyre.livejournal.com]

I can just see The Long Night being a post-volcanic winter. Hmmm.

Worlds of Ice and Fire is lovely! Admittedly, most of the maps are pretty useless (just zooms in of various sections of Essos with a bit more detail). But the full world map and the Westeros map are invaluable while reading the books. I'm currently re-reading Clash of Kings and I almost always have the Westeros map open beside me to refer to and see where certain armies are and stuff.