Mars Northern Ocean Shorelines - Published 1989-2017

This dataset contains mapped palaeoshorelines of an ancient northern hemisphere ocean on Mars, as published in peer reviewed journals between 1989 and 2017. This data was compiled for a literature review of ancient oceans on Mars, and can be consulted for further details of the subject (https://academic.oup.com/astrogeo/article/61/3/3.11/5836123). It is hoped that this data will be of use to researchers, amateurs, and for public engagement.

The .lpk file is best for use in ArcMap software (list by drawing order in the table of contents), and the .kmz file is best for use with GoogleEarth. Data is sorted hierarchically by publication (author, year), and then by palaeoshoreline (as named in the original publication). Palaeoshorelines which include islands or smaller closed basins in the northern lowlands have been split into sub-layers, so that continuous shorelines can be viewed more easily by switching off isolated shoreline sections. Line colours indicate the general palaeoshoreline trends: Meridiani (reds), Arabia (Green), Deuteronilus (blues). More detail on the definition of these general trends can be found in the review paper cited above.

Data for each shoreline was compiled by (1) matching the projection of the ArcMap environment to the original publication map, (2) georeferencing an image of the publication map into the ArcMap environment, and (3) tracing a line feature over the published map. Details of the justification for each palaeoshoreline can be found in the relevant publications listed below. Publication, distribution or research making use of this data should cite this dataset, and also the original publication(s) concerned.