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The arrows are the wind currents. This would affect this the most. The purple triangles are the mountains. They are similar in height to the Ural Mountains of western Russia.The turquoise area is where the rain would gather. The yellow area is the area I am asking about. I believe it would be a desert but because of the size of the world I am unsure.

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Would the rain shadow effect cause the yellow area to be a desert or be a forest(doesn't matter what kind) like the turquoise area would be?

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  • $\begingroup$ There is no such thing as a rainshadow in the inter-tropical convergence zone, because there is no prevailing wind direction. (And the Urals are very low mountains; notably, there is no rain shadow on either side of them.) But. Your big continent is biggg, with an east-west span several times larger than Africa's. Chances are that any area in the middle of that biggg landmass would be, shall we say, less than optimally wet. $\endgroup$
    – AlexP
    Sep 18 at 19:07
  • $\begingroup$ @AlexP So both sides would have a substantial desert? Is the reason why there is no rain-shadow in the inter-tropical convergence zone because of the heat? It seems to me that it would be more extreme because of the humidity and tropical nature of that area. $\endgroup$
    – Martamo
    Sep 18 at 19:20
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    $\begingroup$ There is no rain shadow in the inter-tropical convergence zone because there is no prevailing wind direction. Rain shadows happen when the wind blows most of the time from one direction, drops its moisture as it ascends the mountains, and has little moisture left on the other side. But in the inter-tropical convergence zone there is no such preferred wind direction, so that being on one side of the mountains of the other makes no difference. $\endgroup$
    – AlexP
    Sep 18 at 19:26
  • $\begingroup$ @AlexP except the ITCZ is shaped by mountains, in south América its actually diverted by the Andes and there is a noticeable rainshadow as it crosses the Andes. so most of that land should be desert from rain shadow alone. But yes most of that should be desrt anyway due to being landlocked subtropical highs. $\endgroup$
    – John
    Sep 18 at 21:01
  • $\begingroup$ @AlexP is that because it has the same current on either side of the equator? It would be an inhospitable wasteland. There would obviously be trade routes. They would probably just go along the coast until they are able to cross it without dying. $\endgroup$
    – Martamo
    Sep 19 at 17:58

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