Final Blog Post: Skyrim's Changing Landscape

                As seen from the previous blog posts, Skyrim is a land of many unique geographic features. The vast majority of the Skyrim landscape is mountainous, and covered in pine tree forests. The mountains reach very high altitudes and appear to be quite young in geographic terms. The mountains must have formed from the collision of two continental crusts, resulting in tall mountains. In the south east area of Skyrim known as Eastmarch, there is a large volcanically active caldera that features hot springs and rhyolite formations. Like I said before, Skyrim is covered in pine forests, as well as large amounts of other vegetation. The amount of vegetation that covers Skyrim actually affects the process of weathering on the landscape. The vegetation slows down the process of weathering and because of this; Skyrim is a transport limited landscape. Finally, the overall high latitude of Skyrim means that Skyrim is a quite cold place, and most of its precipitation is in the form of snowfall and occasionally rain.

                In 10 years, Skyrim will probably only feature minor changes in the landscape. This is mainly because it is a transport limited landscape, and much of the weathering will be greatly slowed down because of this. But there are a number of changes that one could expect to see over the course of ten years, even if they may be minor. For example, I noticed pine trees growing in rocks and demonstrating root wedging. In time these trees will break off pieces of the rock and the landscape will change. Another thing to be noted is the hydrology of Skyrim. The White River is a fairly straight river at this time but in 10 years the cut banks will become sharper and more pronounced, and perhaps begin to form narrow goosenecks in places.

This photo shows an aerial view of the White River. In time the curves will form goosenecks, and eventually, oxbow lakes.

(in-game screen capture)

                In 100 years the changes in the landscape of Skyrim could be much more noticeable. The White River I mentioned earlier could have gone from goosenecks to oxbow lakes by this time. The sides of the rivers would be much more eroded overall as well. Another thing that might be observed in 100 years is the size of the rhyolite formation in the center of the Eastmarch caldera. Since volcanic activity is likely to continue in this area, the formation will grow, little by little and be larger in size in 100 years.

With continued volcanic activity, this rhyolite formation in the center of the Eastmarch caldera will continue to grow

(in-game screen capture)

                In 1000 years drastic changes in the landscape of Skyrim might be observed. If volcanic activity builds enough in the Eastmarch caldera, a massive eruption could occur akin to the one hypothesized for Yellowstone. A massive volcanic eruption could change the landscape by the sheer force of the explosion, but also change the climate of Skyrim from the amount of ash released from the explosion. If an eruption does not occur, some changes we could expect to see are meander scars left over from oxbow lakes and erosion and breaking down of the rocks on and around the mountain ranges. The mountains would perhaps be smoother by this time too from weathering.

The massive Eastmarch Caldera outlined in red could lead to a massive, landscape changing volcanic eruption

(in-game screen capture)

                In conclusion, Skyrim is a land where the landscapes will most likely change slowly over time due to the transport limited landscape. The most prominent factors of weathering and changing in Skryim will occur around the rivers, an around areas of volcanic activity.

Climate and Weather in Skyrim

Instead of looking at one particular region of Skyrim in this blog post, I will explore the weather and climate characteristics of Skyrim as a whole. For the most part, Skyrim is a cold place that receives most of its precipitation in the form of snow, and occasionally rain. The reason Skyrim exhibits such a cold climate is due to how far north it is, and the overall high altitude of the province.

Skyrim is the northernmost province of the continent of Tamriel

(Image from elderscrolls.wikia.com)

As seen in the map above, Syrim is very far north, and therefore has high latitude. The high latitude of Skyrim affects the temperature because of the way the sun shines on this part of the planet. Being so far north, Skyrim would have a smaller angle of incidence than places further south. The angle of incidence is how the certain areas of the planet get solar radiation. This small angle that the sun hits this northern part of the continent results in much more surface area in which the radiation is spread out over. This results in lower temperatures.

Another reason Skyrim exhibits such cold temperatures is the overall altitude of the province. Skyrim is very mountainous, and compared to the other provinces of Tamriel, sits at a much higher altitude. The reason high altitude places like Skyrim are colder is due to the environmental lapse rate or ELR. Basically, warm air parcels rise to higher elevations where the air pressure is much lower. When the warm air rises to low pressure areas it expands and cools.

A mountain range in Skyrim featuring peaks at very high altitudes. The mountains are cold because of low pressure, and cooling air parcels that rise to high altitudes. (image from playstationlifestyle.net)

Many day to day weather events can be observed in Skyrim as well. Rain, blizzards, cloud formations and fog are all common weather events that happen often in Skyrim.

Low-level stratocumulus clouds forming over a landscape in Skyrim. (Image from elderscrolls.wikia.com)

Clouds like these form when an air mass becomes saturated, meaning the relative humidity reaches 100%. There are four methods which cause clouds to develop. Orographic uplift can occur which means air rises due to elevated land, cool, and eventually becomes saturated. Convectional lifting forms clouds when air near the ground is heated, begins to rise, then expands and cools while becoming saturated. Convergence can form clouds when air masses come together. Usually the air masses have different characteristics which causes the warmer air mass to rise, cool, and become saturated. Finally radiative cooling can form clouds by the ground losing heat from the sun causing the air near the ground to cool. This results in surface fog.

A video of rainfall in Skyrim. Rain is a form of precipitation resulting from water droplets coalescing in clouds and becoming to heavy to be sustained by updraft, thus falling to the ground. (Video from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSON3yT25mQ)

In this picture we can see an example of  valley fog. The cold air is drifting down the mountainsides and into the valley below.(Image from pcgamer.com)

The generally cold climate and harsh weather events make Skyrim a tough place to live which is why the main population of Skyrim consists of the Nord people. Nords are large, hardy men and women who have a natural resistance to frost and cold. The climate in Skyrim allows for the grown of wheat (in warmer seasons) and snowberry, a hardy plant found growing in cold mountainous areas. Nordic Mead is also brewed exclusively in Skyrim due to the extreme cold temperatures required to brew it, as well as the availability of natural ingredients found here.

Falkreath Hold

Falkreath Hold is located in the southwestern corner of Skyrim and features a number of notable geographical features. Falkreath Hold is comprised of a large pine forest and small hills surrounded by large mountains.

Falkreath Hold highlited in the southwest area of the map

(Image from elderscrolls.wikia.com)

The most prominent feature of Falkreath Hold is Lake Ilinalta.Lake Ilinalta is a major part of Skyrims Hydrosphere. It receives much of its water from the large amount of rain Falkreath Hold gets, as well as the constant runnoff from the surrounding mountain ranges. Lake Ilinalta drains into the White River which runs northeast through Skyrim, eventually draining into the ocean. The water is then evaporated off the ocean and eventually returns to Lake Ilinalta, thus completing the Hydrosphere. The White River is an example of a dendritic drainage patter, meaning it branches off into other smaller streams as it flows to the ocean.

Lake Ilinalta

(Image from elderscrolls.wikia.com)

The beginning of the White River, flowing out of Lake Ilinalta

A sky view of Lake Ilinalta

(Image from elderscrolls.wikia.com)

Another notable geographic feature of Falkreath Hold is the forest that covers it. This thick pine forest makes Falkreath Hold a transport limited landscape, meaning that weathering here is slowed down by the amount of vegetation present.

A view of the pine forest in Falkreath Hold

While exploring the pine forest I noticed an example of root wedging. A few pine trees were growing out of a formation of rock. The growth of the trees roots will eventually lead to physical weathering on the rock.

Pine trees seen here growing out of the rock formation

Falkreath Hold is an important area to the people of Skyrim because it is a major source of fresh water, as well as lumber from the pine forest used in building homes and other structures.

Images not from elderscrolls.wikia.com are in-game screen captures taken by myself.





Blog Post #1: Eastmarch Caldera

The Eastmarch is an eastern region of Skyrim home to many unique geographical features. I wanted to explore this area of Skyrim because it has an abundance of hot springs, and I was curious as to how they might have formed.

A map of Skyrim with the Eastmarch highlited on the eastern side

(Image from elderscrolls.wikia.com)

Upon exploring the hot springs in the Eastmarch, I noticed that the entire area was very large and flat for the most part. I also found many geysers dotted throughout the hot springs. This large area of hot springs is a massive caldera. This would explain the formation of so many hot springs and geysers. The region is also somewhat circular and surrounded by large mountain ranges on either side. The caldera is very similar to Yellowstone.

Hot springs in the Eastmarch caldera

A large geyser in the hot springs

Another interesting thing I found near the immediate center of the caldera was a large rock formation that looked to be a rhyolite dome leftover from a volcanic eruption. The formation itself is called Bonestrewn Crest, named after the many mammoth bones strewn about the rock formation. It reminded me of the building rhyolite formation in Mt. St. Helens.

The rhyolite formation in the center of the caldera

A sky view of the Eastmarch caldera noting the position of Bonestrewn Crest in the center

One other thing I noticed while searching the landscape was this fault in the ground most likely from compression.

The fault shown here with the ground on the left about a foot higher than on the right

The people that live in this part of the Eastmarch make use of the warmer temperatures in this volcanic area to establish hunting camps where game such as sabre cats, bears, mammoth and elk are hunted. The large rhyolite formation in the center of the caldera is also a roosting spot for dragons.

-All above images except for the map are in-game screen captures done by myself.

An Introduction

Hello! My name is Jacob Hirschman and this is a blog I am creating as a project for my Geography class.

This blog will observe and document some of the geographical features found in the land of Syrim, the northernmost region of the continent known as Tamriel. Skyrim is a fictional land from a game series called The Elder Scrolls.

Skyrim is an immensely detailed virtual world complete with numerous geographical features. From snowy mountaintops to steamy swamps Skyrim has it all. As seen in the image above Skyrim is also well mapped for a fictional world. This makes it very easy to plan where to find and travel to various geographical features in the game. Skyrim is laced with rivers, lakes, mountains, and also features many small villages and cities. It is similar to Europe in medieval times in terms of technology. Walking through the world of Skyrim from a geographers perspective should open my eyes to new things I would have normally missed. This is a masterpiece of a game and I hope to show some of its unique features in this blog.

Image From: playstationlifestyle.net