Qukoha's geology is quite mobile. There is a good deal of tectonic motion, bringing ground quakes and volcanic activity with it. The hot and massive iron and heavy metal core comes quite near the surface. This causes the tectonic plates on the surface to move fairly dramatically. The plates are constantly drifting at measurable rates, several centimeters per year. Many of the ground quakes are small in magnitude, 3.5 and less on the Richter Scale, because the ground is soft and the crust is thin. This keeps Qukoha from forming very tall mountains. Karssan is the tallest mountain at 14,728 feet high. Several other peaks on the two major continents are over 12,000 feet high, but these are concentrated in six localized peak formations.
This tectonic motion also causes volcanic arc islands, islands that form in a line, such as Earth's Hawaiian Islands. Volcanoes push molten rock through the crust in a line, or arc, as the plates shift over time. The most notable arc islands are the Bansara Islands that extend between the two largest continents on the planet, Lashra in the Northern hemisphere and Falashra in the Southern hemisphere. The islands nearly connect the two continents and have formed as the tectonic plates beneath these parts of the two continents drift away from one another.
Qukoha's Bansara Islands
Qukoha is spared from intense greenhouse effects by the interplay between its oceans and its atmosphere. Qukoha undergoes periodic climate changes when the comet Istuss passes through Qukoha's orbit. The tilt of the planet is increased by approximately 4 degrees, causing rapid cooling of the atmosphere. Water precipitates out of the air, lowering the atmospheric pressure. When the pressure drops enough, the cycle reverses and carbon dioxide begins evaporating back into the atmosphere.
This increases the greenhouse effect when the planet is moving into the coldest part of its cycle. The weather is still noticeably colder, and some species cannot adjust to the change in climate, but the resulting warming from the thicker atmosphere keeps the effects of the cold from sending the planet into an atmospheric imbalance, freezing the water and drying the planet. In turn, the interaction with the oceans keeps the planet cool enough to trap water, and therefore Hydrogen, before it reaches the top of the atmosphere and boils off under the intensity of the ultraviolet radiation of Kisc.
As the gravitational pull from the other members of the star system slowly alter Qukoha's tilt back toward 21 degrees, the planet warms more and the atmosphere is agitated still more. The collected moisture precipitates out with heavy rains and rivers and lakes rise to high levels. Flood conditions cycle repeatedly during Qukoha's 50 million year return to its 21 degree tilt. This keeps the atmospheric conditions in constant flux and keeps the planet's atmosphere from becoming too hot or too cold.
 |
 |
Go on to the next chapter.