Polar regions of Pandora?

[flighter]

Are there any hints about polar regions of Pandora? From a few pictures, there are some (tiny?) ice caps, but I couldn't find any more details about it. I guess in the real world, it would also greatly depend on the amount of energy (light, heat, other parts of the spectrum) coming from both the nearby stars (of which, one is way too far to influence it a lot), and the mother planet.

[Elyris]

Some old stuff (and I already forgot about the 'picture posting' rules - sorry )



http://james-camerons-avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Pandora












Edit: I am sorry, but I just now can't find the 'direct from the internet' option on the tinypic page. Sorry.

[flighter]

I see no problem with this last post

So no worries.

[Kiyevanie]

So there's land around the polar regions.

I'd like to see where Hell's Gate, ToV, Hometree and all the other important places are on that map.

[flighter]

Well... since Pandora is a virtual thing, it can be what we want it to be. It would be interesting to have Pandora-equivalent of Second Life (for those that are familiar with it)

[Seth]

I remember from the old naviblue site that their was actually someone who made a post about a Pandora/Avatar themed area in Second Life. I created a character on Second Life to check it out. This was back in 2010 I think and I haven't been on Second Life since then, plus I think the member who posted about it disappeared shortly afterwards.

[flighter]

Ah, ok, thanks for the feedback then!

[Atokirina]

So, judging by that first picture, it doesn't look like the Pandoran pole regions are covered in ice, like ours. At least not the Northern one.
I don't see any desert or bare mountain areas either, all land seems to be covered in greens.

[flighter]

I guess a lot more energy is being reflected/radiated from Polyphemus, so there is no chance for ice layer to form.

[Elyris]

My guess is that the higher mountains (if there are any) should have an ice cap, regardless the climate on the base of the mountain (like Kilomanjaro).
I also think that a possible 'energy-reflection' from Polyphemus is likely to play a small (if any) role in Pandoras climate. The massive gravitational powers between the Alpha Centauri and the gas giant should be more than enough to heat up Pandora form the inside and cause a lot of seismic as well as volacanic activity. And just like earth the atmospheric system will handle all that heat from the moons core by having a roundabout warm climate. But that doesn't mean change can't happen.
I'm interested in how much continental drift and other activities like that are present.
The magnetic field though should be highly influenced by the planet as well as the gravitation (following the current theory that the magnetic field of a stone planet is caused by the rotating, molten inner netal core) - with that mcu hgravitation Pandoras molten core could be larger than earths.

Gaaaahhhh - so many questions.

[flighter]

On Earth, vertical temperature gradient (change in temperature) is between 6 and 10 degrees (Celsius) per 1000m of altitude, and gets stable at about -56 degrees afterwards. So, your guess is right, I think.

[Wind12]

Another thing to think about would be how the low-gravity/high density atmosphere might affect the depth of Pandora's Troposphere it might make the lapse rates less, what fascinates me are the smaller, east-west seas and how large areas of floating mountains might affect Pandora's version of the Jet stream, on the globe shown above it "could" also be a "summer shot" and would leave things open to a temporary winter ice cap. One thing that would favor a chilly pole would be that continent sitting at the top as land heats and chills much faster than sea(the reason that the North Pole can hit near freezing in the summer, while the South Pole stays below 0F in the "Heat of summer") Will probably revisit this thread soon love anything that is related to meteorology

[Wind12]

quick note, being that the pole is visible in sunlight, will def. say summer view.