Geography And Water/Rivers etc

What about massive underground lakes or aquifers? The plant life could have evolved in such a way as to tap into this & minimise water loss - (think needles for leaves; such as cacti & pine, thick waxy coating, leaves that only unfurl at certain times of the day. Have a google at gemsbok melon - the fruit looks like a stone, but contains a hell of a lot of fluid beneath the shell). There are a lot of plants that create their own little wells - the pitcher uses it to trap insects; so if they modified to catch the snowfall?

Yay aquifers! I hadn't thought of that. Cacti are "succulent plants;" they store water in their cells and there are a variety of them. Also, your planet might have underground springs.

Imelda said:

I already created the world, which has only two seasons, marked by a very definite, pretty much overnight change from sunny to snowy.

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If it never rains, how come it snows?

Actually, if it does snow, then I think you've got your answer. The snow melts in the spring and saturates the ground; your world would be a lot like the parts of the Earth that have spring monsoons. Lots of water on the ground in the spring, a furious growing season in the spring, and a drier and drier summer until the winter snows come again.

There is going to be evaporation from any water that is exposed to the air, so what you need is some way for that water to make its way from the atmosphere back to earth. Maybe there could only be precipitation (snow) at the poles. Melt from the ice caps (or glaciers?) could supply the rest of your world with water in rivers and streams - or feed your aquifer . If there isn't any water going into your aquifer, it will eventually be depleted and the land above it will start to sink (something that's actually happening in parts of the Mojave desert).

Depending on how intense the snowy years are, you could have high altitude glaciers that feed rivers as they melt with the warm season.

Imelda said:

I was wondering if anyone had a clue how/if it would be possible to have a realistic fantasy world in which it didn't rain, but the terrain was capable of supporting crops and a whole lot of forest.

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The water table (the level of the water in the ground) could be maintained by underground water supplies (springs, rivers, lakes or whatever) without the need for rain... right?

The bigger question would be:
If the plant life feeds off water, then there'll be water in the atmosphere. So what's to stop it forming into clouds and dripping?

But bear in mind I haven't studied Geography for around 7 years.

in which it didn't rain, but the terrain was capable of supporting crops and a whole lot of forest. I already created the world, which has only two seasons, marked by a very definite, pretty much overnight change from sunny to snowy.

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First, I am not a meteorologist.

I'm not sure how you'd get moisture into the air to cause snow, but not get moisture into the air to cause rain. One thing to keep in mind is that whatever world you create is based on a planet (unless you've got a manufactured world that's really a space station or something), and when it's winter in the northern hemisphere, it will be summer in the southern hemisphere. So, whatever mechanism is putting moisture into teh air in the north would also cause moisture in teh south.

As for underground water, these are fed by rain, melting snow, and so on. Then get trapped and directed by underground rock formations that either stop it or allow it to flow. If you don't have rain during the summer, the water table would probably have a lot of fluctuations going. Basically, they would get all the snow melt in spring, and then they'd be slowly drained the rest of teh year.

You may wish to read up on the water cycle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_cycle

Basically, if you have a large body of water, the sun will cause water to evaporate, this will go into the atmosphere, it will eventually cool, and rain/snow will fall. I'm not sure how you could have it so that this only happens in teh wintertime.

See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drainage_basin

Perhaps you could have a strong wind pattern that keeps the moisture laden air out of this one area. Or higher elevation where it's dryer?

One of the cradles of civilization was ancient Egypt, where it rarely rains, but through which the Nile River flows, allowing agriculture via irrigation. The Nile is fed from areas far to the south, where it rains a lot, and where there also exists the world's largest swamp (the Sudd), which acts as a giant water-storing sponge. The idea isn't all that farfetched.

caw

Imelda said:

I'm actually only using those seasons in one part of my world--I have other countries and other areas that can do what they like, because I'm not going there.

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Ah, I was thinking larger scale, like the northern hemisphere or something. If you're talking more regional, then blacbird's suggestion of Egypt/Nile would do it.

What if your area was in the 'rainshadow' of a mountain range? The rainclouds come from the other side of the mountain, dump their rain on the mountain, and 'our' side of the mountain is dry. The rain, falling on the high mountains, is probably snow in winter. In the spring it melts and pours down the mountain, providing the irrigation, most strongly in the spring, but if the spring warming is gradual, it will keep things moist until the summer, long enough for crops. As far as forests, local trees would develop to make use of whatever moisture is available.

Very high humidy, temperature extremes and some atomspheric wierdness that prohibits clouds forming. Vegitation would adapt to the dew.