Space: Desert Planets

[Johnny1A.2]

Originally Posted by whswhs

The "desert planets" I think of are Arrakis, Anarres, Geta, and various versions of Mars all the way back to Barsoom. I suppose Tatooine is a desert planet, but I think you could say the same about Vulcan. Really, though, I see both of them as stage sets. "It was raining on Mongo that afternoon," as the old joke has it.

The old joke is full of it, though. I've ranted on that point before.

Ironically, for all that Mongo is the classic setting for 'sword and planet' stories (except possibly Barsoom), Mongo is actually a relatively believable habitable world. It has multiple biomes, oceans and forests and deserts and jungles, cold polar regions and mountains and valleys, it's a fairly well-realized world.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Johnny1A.2

Ironically, for all that Mongo is the classic setting for 'sword and planet' stories (except possibly Barsoom), Mongo is actually a relatively believable habitable world. It has multiple biomes, oceans and forests and deserts and jungles, cold polar regions and mountains and valleys, it's a fairly well-realized world.

Well, you know, regardless of that, the point of the joke is still valid: A planet has diverse terrain types (as GURPS calls them), and fiction with "desert planets" and "jungle planets" and "swamp planets" is naive. You might as well have aliens come to Earth and call it "the water planet."

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Not really. You need nutrients as well as water, which mostly come from flow off land masses.

Or up-wellings from oceanic vents. Black/white smokers are incredibly diverse ecosystems after all. A hypothetical planet with shallower oceans might get more mixing of top and bottom strata.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by whswhs

Well, you know, regardless of that, the point of the joke is still valid: A planet has diverse terrain types (as GURPS calls them), and fiction with "desert planets" and "jungle planets" and "swamp planets" is naive. You might as well have aliens come to Earth and call it "the water planet."

Makes more sense than calling it Earth. That raises the point that what people call a planet will likely be based on where they choose or must live.
Even if the planet has lush equatorial jungles, if they're uninhabitable for some reason, everyone will think of the place in terms of the existing polar cities.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

This could work where an entire planet of bare sand couldn't. The oxygen could be created by photosynthetic sea life. Sand makes no oxygen. Something needs to be at the bottom of the bio-mass pyramid too.

"Ice" planets would depend on ocean life for much the same reason..

You understood me perfectly. By minising the areas regular rain and making a vast brutal desert the part of the planet folks used, you get the desired effect.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Deep ocean doesn't produce much either.

By allowing small islands that cause upwellings to support reef life you can get around that. Let these islands be either unihabitable like Rockall or Bouvet, or simply unpleasant like the Kerguelens or Spitzbergen. Also the western side of my propsosed Coastal Mountains would have vegatation and constant storms.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

And only the interior deserts habitable (this is achieved by massive coastal storms blocked by the big mountains) the planet would seem to be all desert.

I'm not sure if its harder to live in the desert with no water or in the shadow of the massive storms. Is it harder to get water into the desert or build buildings that can outlast the storm? where is it harder to build crops? won't their be secluded little valleys that get the rain without the wind?

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by ericthered

I'm not sure if its harder to live in the desert with no water or in the shadow of the massive storms. Is it harder to get water into the desert or build buildings that can outlast the storm? where is it harder to build crops? won't their be secluded little valleys that get the rain without the wind?

These are very small areas. Most of the planet is desert and the desert is the ecconomic center.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

These are very small areas. Most of the planet is desert and the desert is the ecconomic center.

The desert is probably not the economic center, if it can't sustain a significant amount of life. The economic center is probably the tiny oases scattered across the desert.

[ericthered]

It depends on the purpose of the people living on the planet and the technology available.

If this planet is supposed to be self sufficient, economic centers will be either in the oasis or along the coast line in places that feel safer. People will find ways to brave the storm, grow crops in isolated valleys, and dodge the storms to catch fish. Or they will live just on the far side of the mountains and pipe water from the rain rich slopes of one side to the parched land of the other. In the desert, people flock to the water.

If you have thriving trade going on with other worlds, its possible for the desert to be an important mineral resource -- but they will import most of their food, either from the coast or from off world.

I actually like this world, but its not how you build a 'desert planet'.

I wonder if several small ocean basins (10-5% hydrology) gives you enough water to get life with. I suppose it'd likely end up too brackish for earth life -- or would it?