Tamriel, on the Planet Nirn, "is the most well-known and important continent on
the planet” (http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Tamriel). The continent
exhibits numerous tectonic features, not the least of which is the enormous
volcano in Morrowind, Red Mountain (Figure 1).
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Figure 1 http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110427234009/elderscrolls/images/thumb/c/cf/BA_Red_Mountain.jpg/250px-BA_Red_Mountain.jpg
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The eruption of Red Mountain in
the early years of the 4th era all but obliterated the island of
Vvardenfell, of which the volcano makes up nearly two-thirds of the whole. In
the DEM (figure 2) one can see the extent of the lava flow from the top of Red
Mountain. The volcano continues to spew forth ash into the air. Pahoehoe, which
long since cooled “are often used as roads” by the folks in Morrowind (http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Red_Mountain).
Vvardenfell remains a wasteland and the land to both “north and east of the
mountain is arid and barely habitable” (http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Red_Mountain).
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Figure 2
http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110527023739/elderscrolls/images/thumb/2/29/Vvardenfell-map.jpg/180px-Vvardenfell-map.jpg
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To the east of Morrowind lies the province of Skyrim. The
province is dominated by mountains throughout with some flat plains to the
west-central portion of the province. These mountains have been created along
faults within the crust of the “earth”. Faulting appears to be the culprit
insomuch as the mountains along all three continental borders exhibit linear
scarps that run parallel to the face of the mountains. However Throat of the
World, the tallest mountain in all Tamriel (http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/High_Hrothgar)
stands alone from the rest of the mountain ranges and holds its own unique
tectonic story. It too is a result of faulting but it juts out and away from
the predominant east-west scarp to which it may be a part. It is identifiable
as a scarp because of the triangular facets that radiate out from the mountain
on the northeast and southeast sides. The mountains to the west appear to be
the result of slip-strike faulting with right lateral movement as indicated by
the abrupt change in the flow of the river running along the otherwise straight
line fault scarp (Figure 3).
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Figure 3 http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111009095221/elderscrolls/images/thumb/0/08/Map_of_skyrim_bintoenglish.jpg/350px-Map_of_skyrim_bintoenglish.jpg
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