The air on Rustum
Many years ago I did a writeup of a Traveller world called Forboldn for Pyramid. To explain why the population was rather low and because I thought that the idea had some excellent dramatic possibilities, I gave it an atmosphere similar to the one Poul Anderson described for his world Rustum in his books Orbit Unlimited and New America. The atmosphere was so dense that the concentration of CO2 at sea level made the air unbreathable for normal humans, restricting the population to live at high altitudes. However, some members of Rustum's population had greater tolerance for CO2 and were able to live at lover levels.
In a recent discussion I was told that the composition of the air (the proportions of the various components) would be the same at all altitudes; only the density would vary. Thus, if the oxygen was dense enough to be breathed at high altitudes where the CO2 was low enough for normal humans, it would reach toxic levels at lower altitudes, making higher CO2 tolerance insufficient to allow people to breathe the atmosphere at lower levels.
The person who told me seems to know what he is talking about and has been backed by someone else too. Personally I don't know; I'm relying entirely on Anderson's reputation for taking great care in his world-building.
1) Either Anderson got it wrong.
2) Or I misunderstood Anderson and got it wrong.
3) Or my debater is wrong.
I'd really like to know which it is and -- if it's 3) -- be able to explain how it really works to those who say otherwise.
I have two problems there. Firstly, my copies of Anderson's books are packed away, so I can't find them to quote just what Anderson said about Rustum and its atmosphere. Secondly, I have been unable to google any discussions about Rustum and the accuracy or otherwise of Anderson's science.
I'm hoping that someone who has access to the books could quote what it says about the atmosphere and how the settlers who could breathe at lower altitudes without artificial aid managed that feat. I'm also hoping that someone knowledgable on the subject could tell me who is wrong here, Anderson, me, or my debater.
Hans
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