Real spruce forests thrive in malnourished ground. Granite and diorite being harder rocks don't decay as fast as other rocks and as a result the ground is malnourished. The granite and diorite shouldn't just be found in smal patches but also in hole caves with granite or diorite walls.[/p]
Real andesite is a volcanic rock that is commonly found in lava. I think that andesite should be more common near lava. There should be andesite caves that have a lot of lava in them.[/p]
I like this idea. It's often annoying to try and find deposits of the stone type you need, and having stone types be semi-biome based would make this much easier, and would inspire different themed builds in different biomes. I would go on to add that it would be helpful to have ores be able to generate in all different stone types.
I'm a geology student and I agree that rock variants should be different to underground biomes. An underground biome would basically be the "history" of minecraft giving some lore into what the ancient biomes were. I really believe that making underground biomes somewhat realistic would really benefit minecraft for everyone. It would make the underground more exciting and varied which people have been yearning for for years, it would provide education and make people more interested in geology and it would give the underground some lore. Not just the monuments underground, the rocks themselves would have lore.
Some ideas for underground biomes and how to implement them
Disclaimers:
- I have not been creative with names here, so please come with suggestions
- Photos are hyperlinked. Many of the photos are from older minecraft mods like the mineralogy mod, bettergeo, underground biomes, terrafirmacraft, geostrata etc. and they are there for illustration purposes.
Mountains and ancient mountains are metamorphic
- below mountains we should add a rock type called "gneiss" which is a metamorhic rock type. This is because mountains come from tectonic plates crashing into each other, transforming the preexisting rocks. We could have various type of gneiss, for example marble, schist (which could be a light source), granitic gneiss and just plain gneiss.
Different rock layers could be foliated or turned like this:
Images of gneiss, schist and marble in spoiler
Gneiss Foliated gneiss Granitic gneiss
Example of what gneis could look like
Marble
Schist (could be a light source)
We could also have foliation in other parts of the world, hinting to that "this was a mountain once".
Image Removed
Ancient oceans and ocean crusts
- ancient ocean with hardened sediments, and higher prevalence of underground oceans.
There would be a high prevalence of compressed sediments that are deposited on the ocean floors, so compressed versions of clay and sand (gravel is mostly deposited in rivers, minecraft deep oceans lied to you). Any igneous rocks would be felsic and in smaller dikes or pockets. There would be a higher prevalence of underground oceans.
Sediments
In addition to normal minecraft stone, blocks would be hardened clay, sandstone and also pockets of clay and sand.
The sedimental colours from this are pretty accurate.
Fun fact, the "metamorphic rock layers" part actually resemble more an igneous dike (or "volcanic pipe"), though it wouldnt be layered. Spoiler for images of a dike:
It was hard to find good images, but imagine a mesa biome cave with gray, blue and green hardened clay. Spoiler for images
Some examples of hardened clay used in terrain. It was hard to find caves, so imagine the colors of the top row in caves
(ignore the brown in this one)
Other cave examples though I think they are too bright:
Underground oceans from a previous snapshot
They were quite spectacular in a snapshot but were toned down in a later snapshot due to being a bit annoying. This would be a good way of still implementing them without being annoying.
Beneath these oceans (but still above y=0) and edging on these underground oceans biomes would also be a lower prevalence of igneous rocks and instead have dikes or sills of felsic rocks like granite and diorite.The ocean tectonic plates have a higher prevalence of sediments and felsic rocks which makes the magma coming from the plates themselves more felsic.
THOUGH even further down and in mid ocean ridges the rocks are mafic, the complete opposite! So the deep underground should definitely still be filled with grimstone...
Oceanic crust
The oceanic crust is very mafic deeper down because its made from the mid ocean ridges. The most common rock is gabbro, which can be represented with grimstone. Oceanic crust is also thinner than continental, so the deep dark should start higher than continental crust. Maybe at y=15 ?
Mid oceanic ridges have ultramafic magma
Mafic:
Gabbro (which resembles grimstone, so imo we could just have grimstone at a higher level)
Ultramafic: Periodite which contains olivin. Not sure if this would be a good implementation though as we have emerald in mountains...
Also, lava can cool down so fast in the ocean that it turns into pillows. This texture resembles the obsidian texture a lot (and its accurate cause obsidian in minecraft is also lava that hardens that hardens really fast), so it would be cool to implement that.
Though it already kinda is there, maybe even purposefully.
It would be super cool to take it further with darker (mafic) rocks
Continental crust
Continental crusts actually have way more granites (granite, diorite...) than people think.
Image for illustration, it doesnt have to be like that all the way down...
Some images
Image Removed
Image Removed
Im guessing this would be pretty unpopular though unless they change the diorite texture, lol. A better solution would probably be to implement so many interesting different underground biomes that people wouldnt grow tired of the diorite.
Also, something that bothers me is that they put andesite in the deep dark when andesite is extrusive, meaning its more likely to be near the surface than granite and diorite.
And of course, volcanic/magmatic/ lava underground biomes. A cool idea would be to add lava pockets with granite and andesite around for thermal metamorphosis, cause the more felsic rock types melt first.
Put your spoiler here.
The volcanos should also have felsic (lighter rock) further underneath like granite, diorite and andesite.
Some other biomes that would just be fun lol:
Permafrost and ice
This should probably be specific to being underneath cold biomes, and not very deep down.
AND OMG HOW COULD WOULDNT IT BE WITH GLACIERS AND GLACIAL CAVES
Fun fact: glacial caves often have a "with hat" shape as its formed from a glacial crevasse
super fun sliding down haha
Lush caves
More prevalent underneath jungles, but also underneath other biomes. Its not super realistic anyway, but it could represent organic material having been deposited. And it'd just be so cool to stumble across a cave like in the ice age
Gabbro (which resembles grimstone, so imo we could just have grimstone at a higher level)
-> grimstone is now changed with deepslate so I guess that clarifies that it's sedimentary rock (very hardened clay) having gone through metamorphism and NOT gabbro. Gabbro is a very intrusive igneous rock, and the most common deep below ocean tectonic crust. Im thinking that this also clarifies that normal minecraft stone is supposed to be sedimentary metamorph (?)
Also, something that bothers me is that they put andesite in the deep dark when andesite is extrusive, meaning its more likely to be near the surface than granite and diorite.
And of course, volcanic/magmatic/ lava underground biomes. A cool idea would be to add lava pockets with granite and andesite around for thermal metamorphosis, cause the more felsic rock types melt first.
-> they switched out andesite in the deep dark with tuff! Tuff is made from volcanic ash and is also only really on the surface. But this can be some minecraft lore, hinting to that long, long ago the minecraft overworld had lots of surface volcanic activity!
-> They also added more lava pools again! I would like to also see more vertical lava pools (maybe hardened at the top?) with igneous rocks surrounding it. Or that pockets of granite, diorite and andesite are more vertical, or horisontal between rock layers. It would also be SO COOL with some giant hot spots of magma that were rarer, and magma dikes or igneous rocks being generated in a way that resembled it in real life
Hopefully in the caves and cliffs update we get these changes, to put volcanic rocks near lava or magma, and inside magma chambers which could be dubbed "lava cave" biomes or something like that.
igneous rocks should be put where they belong so them being more common near pools of lava does make sense imo.
Also it should be possible for basalt to form/generate in the Overworld naturally, not just in basalt generators players built.
I like the 3 biome types we're being given, but massive magma chambers underground would be a good idea too.
igneous rocks should be put where they belong so them being more common near pools of lava does make sense imo.
Also it should be possible for basalt to form/generate in the Overworld naturally, not just in basalt generators players built.
Oh, yeah I agree! I would love for them to add basalt in the overworld. Pillow lava is actually basaltic, so it would be cool to put either the non-smooth version some places in the underwater ravines, or put obsidian there. (see the bottom section under Oceanic Crusts)
Also, basalt is very similar to diabas so it'd be fine for them to use it interchangeably tbh. Then they could use basalt for hardened magma dikes, either "cutting" a layer or going underneath it. While granite, diorite and andesite should be intrusions.
Some images to illustrate types of igneous intrusions. Intrusion is when magma "intrudes" the rock that was there before, trying to get to the surface. Dikes and sills are smaller, and often contain diabase (similar to basalt) or for example andesite. Bigger intrusions can be called batholiths or plutonic and are more often granite and diorite and they dont always get to the surface because theyre slower.
Dikes and sills cutting layers
In the last image here, there is both a dike (B) and a pluton intrusion (A)
Images of dikes "cutting" the prevous rock layers. In the first image its an igneous intrusion, cut by the white pegmatite (contains a lot of feldspar and quartz). Then the whole area has been subjected to regional metamorphism, foliating the dike. The "Black line" cutting the white pegmatite is dolerite a type of diabase which is similar to basalt. Afterward the whole area must have been subjected to more regional metamorphism, tilting it.
The main difference is that the plutonic rock types are intrusive and harden slowly, meaning that minerals can crystallize more, while extrusive and often also dikes and sills hardens more quickly so that we can't see the mineral corns that well/its fine-grained.
Hopefully in the caves and cliffs update we get these changes, to put volcanic rocks near lava or magma, and inside magma chambers which could be dubbed "lava cave" biomes or something like that.
I like the 3 biome types we're being given, but massive magma chambers underground would be a good idea too.
Wouldnt it be super cool with some cave generation symbolising there had been volcanic activity there before? For example long caves encased in granite, but other rock bedding around. Not suuper realistic, but the amount of caves in minecraft arent realistic anyway so I think they could take some creative liberties with that one
And also of course the underground magma illustrated in my first post. Not quite the nether, but maybe the closest resemblance to the nether in the overworld. Maybe it could be remaining magma underground, but less magma and more plutonic rocks above it.
Gigantic magma chambers could look like this and be super rare: (note: theres granite around, not netherrack)
and maybe huge lava chunks like this but bigger. Maybe they could have loot inside, or likely to have a nether portal inside or close by!
Images from first post about volcanic caves:
And another
I think it'd be better with it not being as vast lava oceans as the nether, but more open areas with lava pools and magma, (thats not geology speaking, but what would fit minecraft)
I like the ideas for more geological formations in Minecraft- it sort of reminds me of how Terraforged adds stuff like striated rocks and erosion systems. ...It'd probably be pretty difficult to implement, but it would be cool to have this sort of thing, add more strategic means of mining. And I don't think it would be unreasonable to expect something like this in a caves and cliffs update, that is, an update primarily focused on terrain.
...The idea of glaciers sort of stuck out to me. There are ice biomes in minecraft, but glaciers aren't really a thing- probably due to the diminutive mountains and lacking world height, both of which seem to be headed for change soon. I can imagine rivers and caves hidden in icey glaciers carved into mountain valleys.
Yeah, I remember a lot of this stuff from geology class. ...I just never really thought there would be a decent use for it. I think we could definitly see more terrain realism added to the game- though, of course, there is something to be said for default terrain, maybe players could be given more realistic options when creating a world? Anyways, in the meantime, check out the fantastic Terraforged mod if you can.
I like the ideas for more geological formations in Minecraft- it sort of reminds me of how Terraforged adds stuff like striated rocks and erosion systems. ...It'd probably be pretty difficult to implement, but it would be cool to have this sort of thing, add more strategic means of mining. And I don't think it would be unreasonable to expect something like this in a caves and cliffs update, that is, an update primarily focused on terrain.
...The idea of glaciers sort of stuck out to me. There are ice biomes in minecraft, but glaciers aren't really a thing- probably due to the diminutive mountains and lacking world height, both of which seem to be headed for change soon. I can imagine rivers and caves hidden in icey glaciers carved into mountain valleys.
Yeah, I remember a lot of this stuff from geology class. ...I just never really thought there would be a decent use for it. I think we could definitly see more terrain realism added to the game- though, of course, there is something to be said for default terrain, maybe players could be given more realistic options when creating a world? Anyways, in the meantime, check out the fantastic Terraforged mod if you can.
Thank you for that! I checked out terraforged and I like the way it generates mountains and landscape! It would be very cool if minecraft took inspiration for the cliffs part of the caves and cliffs update. Some images I found:
Terraforged:
Foliated layering! THis is what minecraft should look like underground tbh!
Glaciers much wooow
It looks so great Some of this foliated layering and igneous intrusions is amazing
Look at those tilted layers!!
There are also other cool mods that generate nice mountain structure, for example Bettergeo developed by the Swedish geological survey, conquest reforged, and other various world generation mods and presets. Here are some images that look super cool! I'd love to see some of these mountains in minecraft (but with more foliation in the layers)! They would maybe have to get some balancing on not making it too difficult to traverse the mountains though, as that would be unpopular for the players. But just imagine the views...
BetterGeo (minecraft mountains with more geology)
Unknown: (alternative terrain generator?)
damn, look at that layering Would be super cool with foliation as well...
This one isnt very realistic, but its very cool and minecraft-like. Except better!
Unknown/various minecraft maps
This mountain foliation is super cool!More foliation!!
Except for the custom created worlds at the end there, all of that is modded! Im certain that the minecraft developers have the ability to add cool and realistic mountains. Of course they have to take lag and game balance into account, but I have my hopes up!
Something funny about me spending lots of time on these posts: today I learnt more about the ocean crusts and I actually feel like some of the time writing this was valuable because it was fresh in memory. So I guess I actually can count it off as studying One thing I learnt about are ophiolites, sequences of dikes in mid ocean ridges:
Pretty cool!
About strategic mining:
I just did a post in this thread about mining automation and I did talk some about how geology could change how iron, coal, copper and gold generates and is mined.
The excerpt about geology and layering:
Something I think would make this more useful is if minecraft added more rock layers (some examples in a long and detailed comment I did here!). Then they could add certain minerals spawning in specific layers or magmatic intrusions like it is in real life. This would encourage testing out which layers are efficient in that specific area for getting a certain mineral, and thereby be even more encouraging for strategic mining! You wouldnt just mine at a certain y-level for every single minecraft world or area in the world. You would have underground "biomes" (but bigger) where some ores spawned more in certain layers.
Ores found in sedimental layers: (last one is foliated due to regional metamorphism)
Ores found from igneous intrusions:
Mining in shafts is often referred to as drift mining and would especially relevant forcoal and gold, would also iron and copper (which would fit minecraft mechanics a lot).
- Coal stems from organic material and is sedimentary, and would generate in layer structures in very long and layered veins. Also, fun fact! Open fire in these veins is very dangerous and a fire can go on for decades in a coal vein underground! Maybe you'd have to use lanterns or other light sources than torches when drift mining
- Iron is most abundant in sedimentary rocks that were deposited when oceans had a high iron content, but also prevalent in mafic igneous rocks (aka prevalent in mid ocean ridges which would fit with ocean ravines in minecraft). In the detailed comment about underground biomes I linked earlier I explained more about ocean ravines and ocean crust vs continental crust. Often surface-mining is used for iron extraction, but thats because its more expensive in real life to mine in caves, though it would fit minecraft mechanics to use drift mining. Surface mining is most prevalent for extracting a certain rock because you need it in more volume and its often too expensive compared to selling price to extract it from caves.
- Iron, copper and gold are usually extracted from rocks more rich in these minerals. Maybe if they added certain layers that had a prevalence of the rock with nuggets inside (similar to hidden silverfish in stone). That would also encourage making minecart systems that transported the rocks out of the caves to be crushed and extracted :))
- Gold is often found with quarts, which there is a lot of in felsic igneous rock types like granitoids (granite, diorite..+++). Maybe they could also add a way of extracting quartz in granite and diorite? and it would be soo funny and realistic (but i guess useless for minecraft) if they added pyrite aka. fools gold! xD Not sure about game mechanics tho, maybe for trying to fool those nether piglins idk.
I dont think they should add long veins with diamond, lapis or emeralds though. Its not super realistic, and it'd also break game mechanics because these ores are rarer or more "mystical".
- Diamond is usually found at high pressure, low temperature gradient (meaning deep in the ground) and are very rare to find closer to the surface.
- Lapis is often crystallised as a result of contact metamorphism, close to underground magma, but not in direct contact. It may be game breaking if it was too predictable though, as lapis is used for enchanting aka magic. But its often found with calcite and pyrite (pyrite=fools gold), so adding calcite in and around lapis "blobs" would be very interesting! And also fit minecraft since people are requesting calcite to be more common.
- Emeralds needs space to crystallize and is formed when enough beryllium is prevalent, which is quite rare. I dont know much about beryllium as its a rare mineral, but it seems like emeralds is formed most often during contact metamorphism. However, in minecraft they did it so it spawns in mountains which is linked to regional metamorphism. But whatever, it would impact minecraft lore too much to change this.
Oh, yeah I agree! I would love for them to add basalt in the overworld. Pillow lava is actually basaltic, so it would be cool to put either the non-smooth version some places in the underwater ravines, or put obsidian there. (see the bottom section under Oceanic Crusts)
Also, basalt is very similar to diabas so it'd be fine for them to use it interchangeably tbh. Then they could use basalt for hardened magma dikes, either "cutting" a layer or going underneath it. While granite, diorite and andesite should be intrusions.
Some images to illustrate types of igneous intrusions. Intrusion is when magma "intrudes" the rock that was there before, trying to get to the surface. Dikes and sills are smaller, and often contain diabase (similar to basalt) or for example andesite. Bigger intrusions can be called batholiths or plutonic and are more often granite and diorite and they dont always get to the surface because theyre slower.
Dikes and sills cutting layers
In the last image here, there is both a dike (B) and a pluton intrusion (A)
Images of dikes "cutting" the prevous rock layers. In the first image its an igneous intrusion, cut by the white pegmatite (contains a lot of feldspar and quartz). Then the whole area has been subjected to regional metamorphism, foliating the dike. The "Black line" cutting the white pegmatite is dolerite a type of diabase which is similar to basalt. Afterward the whole area must have been subjected to more regional metamorphism, tilting it.
The main difference is that the plutonic rock types are intrusive and harden slowly, meaning that minerals can crystallize more, while extrusive and often also dikes and sills hardens more quickly so that we can't see the mineral corns that well/its fine-grained.
Some illustrations:
Here is also a cool illustration:
Wouldnt it be super cool with some cave generation symbolising there had been volcanic activity there before? For example long caves encased in granite, but other rock bedding around. Not suuper realistic, but the amount of caves in minecraft arent realistic anyway so I think they could take some creative liberties with that one
And also of course the underground magma illustrated in my first post. Not quite the nether, but maybe the closest resemblance to the nether in the overworld. Maybe it could be remaining magma underground, but less magma and more plutonic rocks above it.
Gigantic magma chambers could look like this and be super rare: (note: theres granite around, not netherrack)
and maybe huge lava chunks like this but bigger. Maybe they could have loot inside, or likely to have a nether portal inside or close by!
Images from first post about volcanic caves:
And another
I think it'd be better with it not being as vast lava oceans as the nether, but more open areas with lava pools and magma, (thats not geology speaking, but what would fit minecraft)
Yes, it's quite daft that basalt doesn't generate naturally in the Overworld, considering that it is actually a common rock type in real life. Most non pyroclastic lava forms this I believe, although I don't have a problem with it being able to form obsidian and cobblestone, I do think there should be some natural basalt underground and in volcanic biomes on the surface if Mojang will ever add those.
I like this idea. It's often annoying to try and find deposits of the stone type you need, and having stone types be semi-biome based would make this much easier, and would inspire different themed builds in different biomes. I would go on to add that it would be helpful to have ores be able to generate in all different stone types.
Cooking with Mindthemoods ~ Biomes ~ Archeology
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I'm a geology student and I agree that rock variants should be different to underground biomes. An underground biome would basically be the "history" of minecraft giving some lore into what the ancient biomes were. I really believe that making underground biomes somewhat realistic would really benefit minecraft for everyone. It would make the underground more exciting and varied which people have been yearning for for years, it would provide education and make people more interested in geology and it would give the underground some lore. Not just the monuments underground, the rocks themselves would have lore.
Some ideas for underground biomes and how to implement them
Disclaimers:
- I have not been creative with names here, so please come with suggestions
- Photos are hyperlinked. Many of the photos are from older minecraft mods like the mineralogy mod, bettergeo, underground biomes, terrafirmacraft, geostrata etc. and they are there for illustration purposes.
Mountains and ancient mountains are metamorphic
- below mountains we should add a rock type called "gneiss" which is a metamorhic rock type. This is because mountains come from tectonic plates crashing into each other, transforming the preexisting rocks. We could have various type of gneiss, for example marble, schist (which could be a light source), granitic gneiss and just plain gneiss.
Different rock layers could be foliated or turned like this:
Images of gneiss, schist and marble in spoiler
Gneiss Foliated gneiss Granitic gneiss
Example of what gneis could look like
Marble
Schist (could be a light source)
We could also have foliation in other parts of the world, hinting to that "this was a mountain once".
Image Removed
Ancient oceans and ocean crusts
- ancient ocean with hardened sediments, and higher prevalence of underground oceans.
There would be a high prevalence of compressed sediments that are deposited on the ocean floors, so compressed versions of clay and sand (gravel is mostly deposited in rivers, minecraft deep oceans lied to you). Any igneous rocks would be felsic and in smaller dikes or pockets. There would be a higher prevalence of underground oceans.
Sediments
In addition to normal minecraft stone, blocks would be hardened clay, sandstone and also pockets of clay and sand.
The sedimental colours from this are pretty accurate.
Fun fact, the "metamorphic rock layers" part actually resemble more an igneous dike (or "volcanic pipe"), though it wouldnt be layered. Spoiler for images of a dike:
It was hard to find good images, but imagine a mesa biome cave with gray, blue and green hardened clay. Spoiler for images
Some examples of hardened clay used in terrain. It was hard to find caves, so imagine the colors of the top row in caves
(ignore the brown in this one)
Other cave examples though I think they are too bright:
Underground oceans from a previous snapshot
They were quite spectacular in a snapshot but were toned down in a later snapshot due to being a bit annoying. This would be a good way of still implementing them without being annoying.
Beneath these oceans (but still above y=0) and edging on these underground oceans biomes would also be a lower prevalence of igneous rocks and instead have dikes or sills of felsic rocks like granite and diorite.The ocean tectonic plates have a higher prevalence of sediments and felsic rocks which makes the magma coming from the plates themselves more felsic.
THOUGH even further down and in mid ocean ridges the rocks are mafic, the complete opposite! So the deep underground should definitely still be filled with grimstone...
Oceanic crust
The oceanic crust is very mafic deeper down because its made from the mid ocean ridges. The most common rock is gabbro, which can be represented with grimstone. Oceanic crust is also thinner than continental, so the deep dark should start higher than continental crust. Maybe at y=15 ?
Mid oceanic ridges have ultramafic magma
Mafic:
Gabbro (which resembles grimstone, so imo we could just have grimstone at a higher level)
Ultramafic: Periodite which contains olivin. Not sure if this would be a good implementation though as we have emerald in mountains...
Also, lava can cool down so fast in the ocean that it turns into pillows. This texture resembles the obsidian texture a lot (and its accurate cause obsidian in minecraft is also lava that hardens that hardens really fast), so it would be cool to implement that.
Though it already kinda is there, maybe even purposefully.
It would be super cool to take it further with darker (mafic) rocks
Continental crust
Continental crusts actually have way more granites (granite, diorite...) than people think.
Image for illustration, it doesnt have to be like that all the way down...
Some images
Image Removed
Image Removed
Im guessing this would be pretty unpopular though unless they change the diorite texture, lol. A better solution would probably be to implement so many interesting different underground biomes that people wouldnt grow tired of the diorite.
Also, something that bothers me is that they put andesite in the deep dark when andesite is extrusive, meaning its more likely to be near the surface than granite and diorite.
And of course, volcanic/magmatic/ lava underground biomes. A cool idea would be to add lava pockets with granite and andesite around for thermal metamorphosis, cause the more felsic rock types melt first.
Put your spoiler here.
The volcanos should also have felsic (lighter rock) further underneath like granite, diorite and andesite.
Some other biomes that would just be fun lol:
Permafrost and ice
This should probably be specific to being underneath cold biomes, and not very deep down.
AND OMG HOW COULD WOULDNT IT BE WITH GLACIERS AND GLACIAL CAVES
Fun fact: glacial caves often have a "with hat" shape as its formed from a glacial crevasse
super fun sliding down haha
Lush caves
More prevalent underneath jungles, but also underneath other biomes. Its not super realistic anyway, but it could represent organic material having been deposited. And it'd just be so cool to stumble across a cave like in the ice age
Underground mesa anyone?
Mushroom cave
Other
Wow. This was a massively informative post, and the images are beautiful. I would love to see that in Minecraft
Quote from Puffy_Ponynext
Wow. This was a massively informative post, and the images are beautiful. I would love to see that in Minecraft
Thank you! I spent 5,5 hours writing it and getting good images But I count it as "studying" as its technically doing geology haha
Some updates from the latest snapshot 21w08a:
-> grimstone is now changed with deepslate so I guess that clarifies that it's sedimentary rock (very hardened clay) having gone through metamorphism and NOT gabbro. Gabbro is a very intrusive igneous rock, and the most common deep below ocean tectonic crust. Im thinking that this also clarifies that normal minecraft stone is supposed to be sedimentary metamorph (?)
-> they switched out andesite in the deep dark with tuff! Tuff is made from volcanic ash and is also only really on the surface. But this can be some minecraft lore, hinting to that long, long ago the minecraft overworld had lots of surface volcanic activity!
-> They also added more lava pools again! I would like to also see more vertical lava pools (maybe hardened at the top?) with igneous rocks surrounding it. Or that pockets of granite, diorite and andesite are more vertical, or horisontal between rock layers. It would also be SO COOL with some giant hot spots of magma that were rarer, and magma dikes or igneous rocks being generated in a way that resembled it in real life
Hopefully in the caves and cliffs update we get these changes, to put volcanic rocks near lava or magma, and inside magma chambers which could be dubbed "lava cave" biomes or something like that.
igneous rocks should be put where they belong so them being more common near pools of lava does make sense imo.
Also it should be possible for basalt to form/generate in the Overworld naturally, not just in basalt generators players built.
I like the 3 biome types we're being given, but massive magma chambers underground would be a good idea too.
Oh, yeah I agree! I would love for them to add basalt in the overworld. Pillow lava is actually basaltic, so it would be cool to put either the non-smooth version some places in the underwater ravines, or put obsidian there. (see the bottom section under Oceanic Crusts)
Also, basalt is very similar to diabas so it'd be fine for them to use it interchangeably tbh. Then they could use basalt for hardened magma dikes, either "cutting" a layer or going underneath it. While granite, diorite and andesite should be intrusions.
Some images to illustrate types of igneous intrusions. Intrusion is when magma "intrudes" the rock that was there before, trying to get to the surface. Dikes and sills are smaller, and often contain diabase (similar to basalt) or for example andesite. Bigger intrusions can be called batholiths or plutonic and are more often granite and diorite and they dont always get to the surface because theyre slower.
Dikes and sills cutting layers
In the last image here, there is both a dike (B) and a pluton intrusion (A)
Images of dikes "cutting" the prevous rock layers. In the first image its an igneous intrusion, cut by the white pegmatite (contains a lot of feldspar and quartz). Then the whole area has been subjected to regional metamorphism, foliating the dike. The "Black line" cutting the white pegmatite is dolerite a type of diabase which is similar to basalt. Afterward the whole area must have been subjected to more regional metamorphism, tilting it.
The main difference is that the plutonic rock types are intrusive and harden slowly, meaning that minerals can crystallize more, while extrusive and often also dikes and sills hardens more quickly so that we can't see the mineral corns that well/its fine-grained.
Some illustrations:
Here is also a cool illustration:
Wouldnt it be super cool with some cave generation symbolising there had been volcanic activity there before? For example long caves encased in granite, but other rock bedding around. Not suuper realistic, but the amount of caves in minecraft arent realistic anyway so I think they could take some creative liberties with that one
And also of course the underground magma illustrated in my first post. Not quite the nether, but maybe the closest resemblance to the nether in the overworld. Maybe it could be remaining magma underground, but less magma and more plutonic rocks above it.
Gigantic magma chambers could look like this and be super rare: (note: theres granite around, not netherrack)
and maybe huge lava chunks like this but bigger. Maybe they could have loot inside, or likely to have a nether portal inside or close by!
Images from first post about volcanic caves:
And another
I think it'd be better with it not being as vast lava oceans as the nether, but more open areas with lava pools and magma, (thats not geology speaking, but what would fit minecraft)
I like the ideas for more geological formations in Minecraft- it sort of reminds me of how Terraforged adds stuff like striated rocks and erosion systems. ...It'd probably be pretty difficult to implement, but it would be cool to have this sort of thing, add more strategic means of mining. And I don't think it would be unreasonable to expect something like this in a caves and cliffs update, that is, an update primarily focused on terrain.
...The idea of glaciers sort of stuck out to me. There are ice biomes in minecraft, but glaciers aren't really a thing- probably due to the diminutive mountains and lacking world height, both of which seem to be headed for change soon. I can imagine rivers and caves hidden in icey glaciers carved into mountain valleys.
Yeah, I remember a lot of this stuff from geology class. ...I just never really thought there would be a decent use for it. I think we could definitly see more terrain realism added to the game- though, of course, there is something to be said for default terrain, maybe players could be given more realistic options when creating a world? Anyways, in the meantime, check out the fantastic Terraforged mod if you can.
Cooking with Mindthemoods ~ Biomes ~ Archeology
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Thank you for that! I checked out terraforged and I like the way it generates mountains and landscape! It would be very cool if minecraft took inspiration for the cliffs part of the caves and cliffs update. Some images I found:
Terraforged:
Foliated layering! THis is what minecraft should look like underground tbh!
Glaciers much wooow
It looks so great Some of this foliated layering and igneous intrusions is amazing
Look at those tilted layers!!
There are also other cool mods that generate nice mountain structure, for example Bettergeo developed by the Swedish geological survey, conquest reforged, and other various world generation mods and presets. Here are some images that look super cool! I'd love to see some of these mountains in minecraft (but with more foliation in the layers)! They would maybe have to get some balancing on not making it too difficult to traverse the mountains though, as that would be unpopular for the players. But just imagine the views...
BetterGeo (minecraft mountains with more geology)
Unknown: (alternative terrain generator?)
damn, look at that layering Would be super cool with foliation as well...
Realistic world generator:
Realistic terrain generator: curseforge
Glaciers omg!
Vintage terrain generation / vintage story:
More glaciers!! ...and the wall from game of thrones?? lol
Dooglamo worlds: with some glaciers tounges and volcanic landscapes...
Cubicworldgen
I'd love for some of these terrain layerings to be foliated in the mountains instead as thats way more realistic for a mountain!
From redditor: (creator of vanilla vistas and biome bundle presets to open terrain generator)
Travelers dream:
That belt of rock to the right in the image is more prone to erosion! So cool!
These ideas are pretty cool tbh
Wildnature mod
Dregora (OTG preset) Omg the foliation is amazing!
Dracyin terraformed landscape honorary mentions because they included tilted and foliated layering
g
Biomes o plenty:
A terraforming article from minecraft.net
Epic world generator:
Danns world gen
This one isnt very realistic, but its very cool and minecraft-like. Except better!
Unknown/various minecraft maps
This mountain foliation is super cool!More foliation!!
Except for the custom created worlds at the end there, all of that is modded! Im certain that the minecraft developers have the ability to add cool and realistic mountains. Of course they have to take lag and game balance into account, but I have my hopes up!
Something funny about me spending lots of time on these posts: today I learnt more about the ocean crusts and I actually feel like some of the time writing this was valuable because it was fresh in memory. So I guess I actually can count it off as studying One thing I learnt about are ophiolites, sequences of dikes in mid ocean ridges:
Pretty cool!
About strategic mining:
I just did a post in this thread about mining automation and I did talk some about how geology could change how iron, coal, copper and gold generates and is mined.
The excerpt about geology and layering:
Something I think would make this more useful is if minecraft added more rock layers (some examples in a long and detailed comment I did here!). Then they could add certain minerals spawning in specific layers or magmatic intrusions like it is in real life. This would encourage testing out which layers are efficient in that specific area for getting a certain mineral, and thereby be even more encouraging for strategic mining! You wouldnt just mine at a certain y-level for every single minecraft world or area in the world. You would have underground "biomes" (but bigger) where some ores spawned more in certain layers.
Ores found in sedimental layers: (last one is foliated due to regional metamorphism)
Ores found from igneous intrusions:
Mining in shafts is often referred to as drift mining and would especially relevant for coal and gold, would also iron and copper (which would fit minecraft mechanics a lot).
- Coal stems from organic material and is sedimentary, and would generate in layer structures in very long and layered veins. Also, fun fact! Open fire in these veins is very dangerous and a fire can go on for decades in a coal vein underground! Maybe you'd have to use lanterns or other light sources than torches when drift mining
- Iron is most abundant in sedimentary rocks that were deposited when oceans had a high iron content, but also prevalent in mafic igneous rocks (aka prevalent in mid ocean ridges which would fit with ocean ravines in minecraft). In the detailed comment about underground biomes I linked earlier I explained more about ocean ravines and ocean crust vs continental crust. Often surface-mining is used for iron extraction, but thats because its more expensive in real life to mine in caves, though it would fit minecraft mechanics to use drift mining. Surface mining is most prevalent for extracting a certain rock because you need it in more volume and its often too expensive compared to selling price to extract it from caves.
- Iron, copper and gold are usually extracted from rocks more rich in these minerals. Maybe if they added certain layers that had a prevalence of the rock with nuggets inside (similar to hidden silverfish in stone). That would also encourage making minecart systems that transported the rocks out of the caves to be crushed and extracted :))
- Gold is often found with quarts, which there is a lot of in felsic igneous rock types like granitoids (granite, diorite..+++). Maybe they could also add a way of extracting quartz in granite and diorite? and it would be soo funny and realistic (but i guess useless for minecraft) if they added pyrite aka. fools gold! xD Not sure about game mechanics tho, maybe for trying to fool those nether piglins idk.
I dont think they should add long veins with diamond, lapis or emeralds though. Its not super realistic, and it'd also break game mechanics because these ores are rarer or more "mystical".
- Diamond is usually found at high pressure, low temperature gradient (meaning deep in the ground) and are very rare to find closer to the surface.
- Lapis is often crystallised as a result of contact metamorphism, close to underground magma, but not in direct contact. It may be game breaking if it was too predictable though, as lapis is used for enchanting aka magic. But its often found with calcite and pyrite (pyrite=fools gold), so adding calcite in and around lapis "blobs" would be very interesting! And also fit minecraft since people are requesting calcite to be more common.
- Emeralds needs space to crystallize and is formed when enough beryllium is prevalent, which is quite rare. I dont know much about beryllium as its a rare mineral, but it seems like emeralds is formed most often during contact metamorphism. However, in minecraft they did it so it spawns in mountains which is linked to regional metamorphism. But whatever, it would impact minecraft lore too much to change this.
Yes, it's quite daft that basalt doesn't generate naturally in the Overworld, considering that it is actually a common rock type in real life. Most non pyroclastic lava forms this I believe, although I don't have a problem with it being able to form obsidian and cobblestone, I do think there should be some natural basalt underground and in volcanic biomes on the surface if Mojang will ever add those.
https://askanearthspacescientist.asu.edu/top-question/columnar-jointing