Northern Forest

In 200 million AD, the northwestern part of the new supercontinent Novopangea (Pangaea II) has a truly bizarre and massive rainforest, stretching for thousands of kilometers.

The region in the northwest of Novopangea is pounded by saturated onshore winds. The global circulation of the atmosphere brings constant westerly winds to this part of the landmass, winds which travel over a vast surface of warm ocean, filling up with moisture as they go. Thick black clouds roll in from the sea and condense into water as soon as they reach land. Sunlight is rarely seen here. Rain falls relentlessly from the overhead darkness, drenching everything below.

With no mountain range to act as a windbreak, the rain-sodden region stretches hundreds of miles inland. Great rivers carry the runoff back to the sea through swamps and lakes surrounded by deep, murky forests. With all this water, a carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere and warm global temperatures, forests thrive and grow to immense proportions. The tallest trees here are conifers, which grow to the same great heights as the giant redwood trees and other pinales that have dominated this area since the Triassic period.

Only a handful of specialized species are able to survive the wet conditions of the Northern Forest. Flowering plants are rare in this lush forest. They have been mostly replaced by another highly versatile organism: lichen.

In the rich habitat of the Northern Forest, there is no shortage of animal life.