Climate and soils of Hyrule - A literally "basic" way to world build

It's time for some geography! Yay!

Thinking about the landscape around Kakariko for the next chapter (we're getting to Eldin Province, finally!), I noticed how in the game, the rocks and mountains are of a prominent yellow and orange. Ochre, if I'm correct. But why is it ochre, and why is it the only part of Hyrule having ochre in the game?

I realized that creating a realistic and functioning world implies far more thought than just creating cities and trading systems. Looking at the map I drew while taking TP's world map as model, I saw just how the actual climate of the world affected the landscape and soils. Did you notice that in the middle of the map (from West to East) we have the Desert, Hyrule as well as Kakariko with its ochre? To the south we have Faron Woods (a very densely grown forest) as well as Ordona's plains and mountain, and to the north we have the plains of Northern Lanayru, Eldin and the mountains of Snow Peak and Zora's Domain.

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And now let's take a look at our own world, and how the movement of the sun affects different parts of the world.

The red colour shows where the sun is at its nearest to our planet, namely in the middle of Africa (Sahara), the northern part of South America (Amazon Basin) as well as the Isles of Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and North Australia (Sandy Desert, Great Victoria Desert). This invisible line is called the equator. As a result, it is very hot there (obviously). If we move north and south, we see how the colours gradually get colder, moving from yellow to green and to blue.

I decided to try out the same on the map of Hyrule. This is what came out. The red shows the warmer climate, the green the temperate climate, and the blue the colder climate.
Now I'm not entirely sure if this could work, since the planet on which Hyrule is situated would be much smaller than our world, but it gives me a good idea about the temperatures found in the different provinces, and how those can affect both the landscapes as well as how the people live in general.
Just to have said it once: this map does not take into accound the altitudes but merely at which distance the sun is to the surface. Taking the mountains and altitudes into account, I may be able to change the climate of certain regions, but only to a limited span. I could say for example that Hyrule is a plateau situated higher than Kakariko, which would result in it to be cooler than the Eldin Province. The Desert would be lower than Hyrule, and thus much warmer.

But details are for another time. There is still the question about the ochre left unanswered, so let's have a look at the different soils found in Hyrule.

Soil distribution: Eldin Province

Ochre in the Provence

Ochre, which I came across in the Provence while on vacation, is a highly ferruginous sandy earth that gets its orange, reddish colour from weathered limonite, which next to hematite is the principal iron ore. Limonite is commonly known as iron oxide (FeO), or rust, hence the reddish colour. This is a very important bit of information, because if limonite is found around Kakariko, then it is only logical that limonite can be mined on Death Mountain. The first source of iron.





This leads to the soil found in the Eldin Province. While surfing through Wikipedia, I found a very interesting page with the different soil types found in our world. If you didn't already know this, let me tell you that no soil is like the other. Soils found in northern Russia are very different to soils found around the Mediterranean Sea. This is not only because of the climate differences, but because of a ton of other facts like erosion, water occurance, altitude, weather etc. Taking the climate (Mediterranean, see map) and nature of the soil (high limonite occurance) into account, I found the perfect soil for the Eldin Province.

Malvasia vines in Terra Rossa soil, source: Wikipedia

Terra rossa*, Italian for "red soil", is a type of red clay soil produced by the weathering of limestone. When limestone weathers, the clay contained in the rocks is left behind, along with any other non-soluble rock material. Under oxidizing conditions, when the soils are above the water table, iron oxide (rust) forms in the clay. This gives it a characteristic red to orange colour. Terra rossa is typically found in regions with a Mediterranean climate. 

Althought poor in humus (soils rich in humus are considered very fertile, poor in humus less fertile), this soil can be quite fertile if watered enough.

Compared to most clay soils, terra rossa has surprisingly good drainage characteristics. This makes it a popular soil type for wine production.
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_rossa_%28soil%29



Okay, Eldin Province done. Now that I know which soil is found there, everything like agriculture, mining and production as well as culture of the people can be built up from there. But this is a topic for another day.

Terra fusca, source: www.bildarchiv-boden.de

Soil distribution: Hyrule and Lanayru

This was quite easy. I wanted a soil that is not too different from the terra rossa, and which can be found both in cooler as well as hotter regions. There is a second soil which is "related" to terra rossa because it is found in the same category, the Terrae calcis: terra fusca.

Terra fusca, (from the Latin terra, soil, and fuscus, brown) is a soil that developed on limestone, much like the terra rossa, but which is much more fertile because it is rich in humus, and does not have the characteristic red colour of the terra rossa. It is, actually, the very soil which is found in my hometown in Switzerland, in the Swiss Jura.

Okay, it is not New Zealand, but it is still beautiful! As you can see, the limestone found in the soil is used for almost every building, and the landscape is composed of hills and not mountains. Conifers as well as broadleaves grow on this soil. In summer it is very hot, in winter very cold.

Soil distribution: Ordona Province

When standing on a higher mountain in the Ordona Province, this is how I imagine it would look like:

 
 


Faron Woods, large and dense, with the Faron River in the background, conifers and mountains behind me.

The perfect soil for conifers and boreal forests is the podzol. Podzols are able to occur on almost any parent material, but are poor soils for agriculture due to the sandy portion, resulting in a low level of moisture and nurtients. In Ordon, I'd say the soil is better for agriculture because of Faron Woods' influence on it, and their soil:

Soil distribution: Faron Woods

Gley. Source: Wikipedia

First I thought the soil found in the tropical rainforest would be a good one for Faron Woods, but I soon noticed that that one is in fact a very poor soil with almost no nutritiousness to be found. The reason to that is a little complicated to explain, so I'll let you discover that on your own whenever you like.

Instead, I thought that a groundwater soil would be good. In German and French it's called gley, a rich soil with lots of humus and humidity for a dense growth of vegetation. Almost no rocks, as opposed to the terra fusca, are found in this one, but an accumulation of water once you dig deep enough. This soil should be the best one for such a large forest as Faron Woods.

Soil distribution: Great Desert

The soil composing deserts is a soil named regosol. Found mostly in semi-arid and arid areas as well as mountain regions, it can be farmed if sufficiently irrigated, but stays mostly bare.

What most people think of a desert is this:












But this is not the only form a desert can take on. The term desert basically denominates a place that is very arid, very dry, with little to no growth of vegetation. It doesn't need to be hot. A desert, like this one, can also be extremely cold.








So, with the question of the different soils in Hyrule answered, it's time to build up the culture, agriculture, vegetation and animal life. This will be fun!