why is there a big lake in the mountains of mist?

[king of nowhere]

In the map of the westland there is one big lake in the middle of the mountains of mist. It is something very strange, and not only geographically.

Now, that would be a near-impossible place for a big lake. It has two effluentss, and that would require the two of them to be at exactly the same altitude. I don't think there's ever a mountain lake with 2 emissaries in our world, but that could be explained by the breaking. Still, after 3000 years the river bed of one of the two should have been eroded more, and that should have become the only effluent unless a number unless a number of very specific clauses are met.

Then there's the fact that a mountain lake, that can count only on a limited drainage basin, receives enough water to compensate for all the evaporation (which is a very high amount for a lake that big) AND feed two big rivers. That would require a lot of rain on the place.

But more so than the ggeographic unlikelyness of such a lake, what caught my eye was that it is the only sizeable lake in the westlands. The only other lake mentioned in the books is the one around far madding (and there's the new one near rhuidean, but we have no informations on it), but it is not big enough to show on the map. There aren't even any big lakes in all of shara.

So here we are, with a lake that is the biggest lake in the biggest continent on the world, that is at least ten times bigger that the second biggest lake, that relies for its existance on being made with the power and on a big number of coincidences after that.

Sometimes I think I'm reading too much about it. Maybe RJ just put a lake there without looking at it from the scientific side. maybe he did put a single lake because he had no need for lakes in his story but felt the map needed at least one.

But sometimes I think that a lake there is too big a coincidence if it wasn't conceived with a distinct role in the plot. I have the feeling that it must mean something. It must have a function. there must be something important there. I would bet on it being the location of the horn of valere, if I didn't knew it to be safe in the white tower.

What do you think?

[Aethling]

I think that just falls into you reading too much into it. I do not believe many authors would have looked into scientific data to determine whether or not there could be a lake in a certain place.

I assume you are talking about the one at the eastern edge of the Almoth Plains. That one appears to have mountains around at least half. Snow runoff would go a long way to keeping it with water. Don't forget there is always the possibility that it is fed by an undergrown river or stream. It looks like one of the rivers coming out of it is heading north too. That is rarer on earth than the southbound ones, but they do exist.

Sometimes a lake is just a lake. I can't even remember that one being mentioned in the text. It could just be an artifact of his imagination for the map.

[name_here]

Glacier lake. They're actually pretty common.

[Aethling]

I was thinking high altitude lake for a little while, but the more I look at it, it just looks like a normal lake at the edge of the mountains.

[Lady_Yasha]

The Lake District and Highlands in the UK are full of lakes formed high up in the mountains. Mostly glacial, and there's some formed by precipitate run-off from the rising water vapours from other lakes and rivers, that cool and condense into clouds which then deliver the water into basins.

Edited December 1, 2012 by Lyrebon

[AerionBFII]

Duhh worldhopping.. :B

[Bort]

It's the Dark One's Shardpool.