PaleoDigital Elevation Models for the Phanerozoic and Neoproterozoic (0-750 Ma)

A PaleoDigital Elevation Model (paleoDEM) is a quantitative description of the ancient topography and bathymetry of the Earth's surface and describes paleo-elevations (m) at specific latitudes and longitudes on a grid of variable resolution (e.g., 1˚ x 1˚ or a .1˚ x .1˚). Using GIS tools or CGI techniques a paleoDEM can be visualized as a 3D shaded relief map (Figure). PaleoDEMs are required as input for paleoclimate models and can provide useful physical constraints for tectonic, sedimentological, environmental, ecological, oceanographic, biogeographic or evolutionary studies.

We present 127 paleoDEMs describing the Earth's surface for the time interval spanning the last 750 my. PaleoDEMs for the Phanerozoic are spaced at intervals of 5 million years. There is a paleoDEM for each stage of the Phanerozoic. Longer stages (e.g. Albian, Norian, Visean) have multiple paleoDEMs. The late Neoproterozoic time intervals were chosen to capture Snowball Earth (570 Ma - 750 Ma). A complete list of the paleoDEMs is given in Table 1 and the paleoDEMs can be downloaded at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5348492.

The Phanerozoic paleoDEMs are an update of the widely-used set of digital elevation models published by Scotese and Wright(2018). Improvements have been made to the paleocoastlines by incorporating fossil collection localities from the Paleobiology Database (Kocsis and Scotese, 2021). Careful consideration was made to be sure that marine fossil localities plot below sea level, and conversely, that terrestrial fossil localities plot above sea level. Also, mountain ranges in central Asia were reduced during the Mesozoic and there is a more coherent portrayal of the early Paleozoic remnants of the Pan-African mountain ranges of Gondwana. The methodology used to prepare the paleoDEMs is described in Scotese(2021).

Kocsis,A.,and Scotese,C.,2021.Mapping paleocoastlines and continental flooding during the Phanerozoic, Earth-Sci.Rev. 213:103463

Scotese,C.,2021.An Atlas of Paleogeographic Maps:The Seas Come In and the Seas Go Out, Ann.Rev.Earth&Planet. Sci.,49:669-718

Scotese,C.,and Wright,N.,2018.PALEOMAP Paleodigital Elevation Models (PaleoDEMS) for the Phanerozoic, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, IL, https://www.earthbyte.org/paleodem-resource-scotese-and-wright-2018