North Atoll

The North Atoll is a Subcontinent located in Northern Heterocera. The name is unofficial and was proposed by SLGI team. The subcontinent has a transitory name, **B046**.

## History

The official names, proposed after Heterocera was built, did not include any specific name for the area that is now in the North. The area was built between 2005 and 2006, but left partially undeveloped, with unfinished roads and dry valleys. This was partially changed with the construction of a railway that replaced an unpaved road.

## Structure

The subcontinent is made of 29 sims and has a roughly square shape. Its borders are set using sim borders only in a few areas. To South, route 3 is the border, while to East, it is the last dry valley. To West, using sim borders is possible.

## Geography

North Atoll has similar features with all subcontinents outside the mountain range. Land forms a set of terraces, which are found in an alternance: coastal waterways, coastal plain, first terrace, second terrace and mountain terrace.

**Coastal Waterways** include 7 completely or almost entirely flooded sims. There are 10 sims with access to the coast. While in some areas the coastal waterways are very narrow, in other parts they are large and host big islands. The following islands exist:

* Ambrosia
* Brindle
* Filip (a small natural island, extended with artificial constructions)
* Valerian
* Seraphim - Quaker (artificial island).

All islands have low altitudes. They are separated from the continent by navigable canals. There are two flooded sims, Peacock and Walnut.

**Coastal Plain** is narrow. Route 2 separates it into two areas. South from the road, altitudes are around 44 m, while North from the road, average altitude is 30 m. To East, the coastal plain is larger, while to West, it is extremely narrow and in the end it vanishes.

**Terrace 1** is sometimes hard to distinguish from the coastal plain. Usually, it comes with altitudes of 60 m high. Its width can vary. Sometimes, it is crossed by dry valleys.

**Terrace 2** starts at the railway and further extends South. Average altitudes are 80 m. In some places, this terrace does not form a well-defined plateau.

**Terrace 3** is mostly outside the subcontinent and mostly inside Mountains Of Heterocera.

**Valleys.** One distinctive feature of the subcontinent is presence of dry valleys. They can be seen on the map, flowing through terrace 1 and the coastal plain.

* *Tawny Valley* crosses both route 2 and the railway and flows to the ocean. It forms the border with Satellite Subcontinent.
* *Eggar Valley* is much shorter and only crosses parts of 3 sims.
* *Knot Valley* is long and deeper. It reaches the coast through a short estuary. There are a few ponds of water in this valley.
* *Burnott Valley* is short and meets an unfinished road.
* *Ello Valey* is incredibly deep and narrow, looking like a geological fracture more then like a dry river valley.

**Muslin Depression** appears like an anomaly on terrace 2. Altitude drops from 82 (average elevation of the plateau) to 62. Many similar depressions in Heterocera are flooded and form smaller or bigger lakes. Knot valley forms from this depression. However, the valley forms at an elevation of 72 m. So, in order to make a river flow, you have to fill the depression with water.

## Land Status

Population density is higher along the coastline and along the major roads. Inhabited Land is more frequent there, while in the central parts, one can find only small, isolated parcels that are used. Abandoned Land appears a dominant feature in some areas. This comes with an advantage, as in most cases it is very easy to walk directly over land. Protected Land covers roads, railways and waterways.

There are no Linden-owned parks and no infohubs within the area.

## Access

North Atoll has many access ways. Travelers can reach the area by train, as a railway crosses the area on almost its entire length. Access is also possible by road, as route 6 is found in South and route 2 on the coast. There are a few branch roads, some of them ending with off-road sections.

With many parcels of abandoned land, there is easy to walk or ride a horse over the land, taking a shortcut between roads.

A high building density can be found in and around Shark sim. A closer analysis reveals the presence of a few private-owned roads in the area. There is also an airport.

The SLGI Trains run on the railway and continue their voyage to West by flying. The YavaScript pods are present in the area and follow all roads.

## See Also

* Second Life Geography
* List Of Subcontinents
* Heterocera