A group of geologists and map designers have reconstructed the geological ages of Essos, Westeros, and other regions described in Game of Thrones. The results are incredible — and reveal just how violent and mythic real-life geological changes can be.

A Song of Ice and Fire is more than just a high fantasy. Over the course of the book series and the development of the Game of Thrones television series, author George R.R. Martin has created a rich world that sometimes feels as if it has just as much history as Earth. Martin has gone to great pains to detail past events throughout the series and worked with illustrators to create maps showing every river and mountain across the land. There’s plenty to research, and scientist Miles Traer dug into several resources to create the geologic history of Westeros.

If there is a middle ground in the GMO debate, I’m not sure where it is or how it could be navigated. It seems that Nathanael Johnson at Grist is determined to find it. (And I applaud him.) The same goes for Miles Traer atGeneration Anthropocene. In a thoughtful essay, he writes: