Kerbin Geographical society

[nosirrbro]

22 minutes ago, The_Rocketeer said:

The issue I have with this sort of critical analysis is that it doesn't add anything to the discussion, only subtracts. The process of a meteorite impact is simple: meteor hit ground, dirt flew everywhere, round-ish crater rim (and perhaps rebound peak) was left behind (In many cases u can extend this with 'weathering/tectonic motion occured resulting in distortion/destruction of crater rim', even in cases where the area looks very unlike a crater, using the justification of further changes over time). The process of anything else may be just as simple or it could be much more complicated, but if you're not offering processes then you're not really offering anything except discouragement.

Everything here is reading between the lines, there isn't anything concrete, so denouncing a weak theory on the basis that the evidence is weak (when you haven't got stronger evidence of anything else to offer) isn't very sporting. I'm quite happy to modify the overview in light of superior evidence arising later, but I choose not to dismiss or discourage theories on the basis that they don't seem very likely. Very unlikely things happen all the time.

Well, rath's theory seems relatively plausible, and would also create the doubly whammy of explaining why the island exists and the formation of that strangely out of place mountain on the side of the island, however given it has no neighboring volcanoes could be troubling to the theory as they usually form in groups, and the way it seems to have collapsed is oddly strange how abrupt the decrease in elevation is if we use this explination.

[Rath]

I belive atolls form is the same way.

Perhaps the island is very old and the plate is moving quickly, so the hotspot the island formed from has moved to a position where it is no longer identifiable as the source?

Edited May 19, 2016 by Rath
forgot a word

[The_Rocketeer]

Perhaps the volcano/island had for millennia sat over the Runway Island hotspot, and a continental collision suddenly shifted it off it's old position, at the same time causing shockwaves within the mantle that resulted in the explosive eruption.

Ninja'd.

[Paaaad]

I've gotten a couple of in-game photos of the island in question, taken during a launch.

Hopefully these will be helpful.

[Rath]

I landed a remote tech relay there in early game so I can get closer pictures if we want them

[Rath]

3 hours ago, The_Rocketeer said:

Perhaps the volcano/island had for millennia sat over the Runway Island hotspot, and a continental collision suddenly shifted it off it's old position, at the same time causing shockwaves within the mantle that resulted in the explosive eruption.

Ninja'd.

We could consider whether or not it formed by the same hotspots as the island runway islands if we know which direction they formed.

Edited May 20, 2016 by Rath
clarification

[Rath]

I made some cutouts of continents so we can try to fit them together:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xdnl5te9jmv2ift/AAAw9h09p0Vff_1MlyACjyNHa?dl=0

 

[kmMango]

My theories on Kerbin:

Kerbin, as well as all the other planets in the system, have cores made of an ultradense element (164), one that is only created in intense atomic collisions, such as those in cyclotrons or supernovae. This element sits at the hypothetical "Island of Stability," where, despite having a massive number of protons, its atomic structure is such that it has a half-life of millions of years. This accounts for the absurd density of the planets.

My other theory is that the material is a form of Quark Matter, which some theories suggest would be extremely stable--maybe even more so than atomic matter.

Because it is so small, it lacks much in the way of tectonic motion, but maintains a fairly stable magnetic field due to its rapid rotation and molten core.

Kerbin is so small and rotates so quickly that it lacks the uneven surface heating responsible for global wind patterns. The same goes for the water. Due to its lack of axial tilt relative to Kerbol, it lacks seasons. Because of the lack of convection and wind, there is no movement of water or heat, and thus no large weather patterns.

The craters on the surface are from the impact of a massive icy comet, which formed the Mun. The remnants of the impactor later recoalesced into Minmus. The debris from the impact form the asteroid belt near Kerbin's orbital plane. The spurt of volcanic activity resulting from such a large impact formed Kerbin's giant mountains, as well as the Booster Islands.

Edited May 22, 2016 by kmMango

[Rath]

The massive Ice comet theory has some holes.  One, it should sublimate off into space at kerbins orbital height.  This means the minmus must be very new, and not completely gone yet (If it is Ice).  If this impact occurred that recently, all of kerbalkind would be dead, even if they where underground.  The surface would be entirely swept clean of all life, and evoloution would be set back far enough for the re-evouloution of trees to take enough time for mimnimus to melt.

[Snikersnee]

So is the Kerbin Geographic Society gonna have exploration ships, patches and stuff, or are we going to just discuss things? It'd be cool to have participating members have something to put on their signature. (I can help provide these) But anyway, here are some screenshots of the islands (from kerbalmaps).

In the second one you can see underwater "islands" circled and pointed to in red, above water islands circled in yellow, all connected with yellow lines. The red line is the path of the island runway islands. BTW, do those islands have names? Like the hawaii islands, I think we need a name to refer to them all with (unless there is one). There doesn't seem to be any tectonic activity to me, maybe just extinct volcanoes, or eroded continents.

[kmMango]

22 hours ago, Rath said:

The massive Ice comet theory has some holes.  One, it should sublimate off into space at kerbins orbital height.  This means the minmus must be very new, and not completely gone yet (If it is Ice).  If this impact occurred that recently, all of kerbalkind would be dead, even if they where underground.  The surface would be entirely swept clean of all life, and evoloution would be set back far enough for the re-evouloution of trees to take enough time for mimnimus to melt.for ice melt.

Also, IIRC, a thermometer on Minmus shows the temperature to be below freezing. Absurdly high albedo, perhaps.

 

Edited May 23, 2016 by kmMango

[KSK]

1 hour ago, kmMango said:

I've heard suggestions that the surface could just be extremely salty. That would greatly increase the timeframe for ice melt.

Also, IIRC, a thermometer on Minmus shows the temperature to be below freezing. Absurdly high albedo, perhaps.

 

Uh, I would have thought the exact opposite. Adding salt lowers the freezing point of water, so it melts at a lower temperature. It's why we put salt on the roads in winter - we can't do much about the air temperature but we can (within reason) arrange things so that water is liquid at those temperatures.

[kmMango]

As to the Islands, the Booster Islands, perhaps?

[kmMango]

Duuuuuuuurp. KSK, you are correct. My chemistry knowledge seems to have gone out the window. I finished the AP physics exam a few hours ago, and I guess I'm a bit burnt. 

Maybe Minmus was a comet fragment from the aforementioned impact, but pulled together much of the less dense material from Kerbin (silica, salts, chlorine and light metals) into a moon. The water ice from the comet sublimated away long ago, but left a core of salts and metals behind.

Edited May 23, 2016 by kmMango

[CaptainApollo]

Hello! What is the deal with this geography thing? It looks really interesting.

[Rath]

Try reading the other parts of the thread.

if you already have basicly we are trying to find a decent geological background for how kerbin looks today that fits into earth geology.

[kmMango]

2 minutes ago, CaptainApollo said:

Hello! What is the deal with this geography thing? It looks really interesting.

Coming up with theories as to how various aspects of the Kerbol System came to be. Completely pointless, but it's fun to debate. 

Care to join?

[CaptainApollo]

That sounds fantastic. I'd love to join, although I'll have to go in a bit but I will be able to theorize later, haha!

[kmMango]

I'm gonna build some survey ships, try to get into hard-to-access locations, and take screenshots. Maybe commission a submarine to research the possible volcanic activity on the seabed.

[Snikersnee]

2 minutes ago, kmMango said:

I'm gonna build some survey ships, try to get into hard-to-access locations, and take screenshots. Maybe commission a submarine to research the possible volcanic activity on the seabed.

I have a plane that can go above 1000 m/s, up to 20 km, and can travel halfway around kerbin plus some if you need it. Also working on a sub-launched plane.

[kmMango]

Thanks, but I have a few designs of my own. For surveys, I think low and slow is probably best.

Though, perhaps I could use your fast plane to transport my survey vehicle to the area I wish to inspect.

How big is it?

[Rath]

I built a plans that can land on top of the tallest mountain in the ksc near range.  Under 20m/s stall speed and internal RATO helps

[FleshJeb]

I haven't played much past 0.25 and I can't remember: are Ore concentrations static, or do they change with each save? If they're static, what can we infer from them?

Edited May 24, 2016 by FleshJeb

[Rath]

I belive that they change.  It would be interesting to see if they have heavy concentrations around craters, because, after all, that is where crust ores come from

[Rath]

9 hours ago, kmMango said:

Also, IIRC, a thermometer on Minmus shows the temperature to be below freezing. Absurdly high albedo, perhaps.

 

Its not about tempature.  its about getting hit with unfiltered stellar radiation of all bands, both visual and not.