The deepest point of the sea that may once have covered northern Mars.
Vastitas Borealis Central occupies the heart of Mars's northern lowland, the sector that would have been the deepest water if the hypothesized Oceanus Borealis ever existed. It lies well below the planet's mean elevation and is buried under sediment and ice.
Claim your plot here →The central lowlands form the low point of the northern basin, ringed by the higher west, east, and shoreline sectors. If a northern ocean once existed, this is where the water would have been deepest — and where the thickest layers of settled sediment might survive today under the icy mantle.
Sitting close to the north polar cap, this sector connects the lowland plains to the layered polar ice deposits. The combination of deep basin, sediment, and abundant ground ice makes central Vastitas Borealis one of the most compelling places to search for the buried record of Mars's watery history.