I need some help with my first map

[Ysgramor]

Thank you for the help Hai-Etlik

The projection is Plate Carree but the continents are not disorted, so I probably need a new projection where I could work without the distortion, if you have any idea

Is there a way to know where the coastline should be more complex or more smooth?

Also, I have some island chains in mind but I dont really know how to draw them so I will add them later.

Also, do you know where basin forms?

Tanks again for the help

[Hai-Etlik]

Thank you for the help Hai-Etlik

The projection is Plate Carree but the continents are not disorted, so I probably need a new projection where I could work without the distortion, if you have any idea

No projection can eliminate distortion. All you can do is move the distortion around, and change what gets distorted. All projections distort linear scale. Some manage to preserve angles (Such projections are called "Conformal") and some preserve areas (And are called "Equal Area" or "Equivalent") but never both. Equidistant Cylindrical (Which Plate Carree is a special case of) distorts both area and angles, what it preserves is linear scale, but only in one direction, North-South in Plate Carree. This is why there are lots, and lots of different projections in order to preserve what's important for any particular map as well as possible. Most projections also have some sort of centre point or line (sometimes two lines) where they minimize distortion. Distortion then increases the further you get from that point or line. In Plate Carree it's the equator, in the Stereographic projection I used, it's the north pole.

Plate Carree does have the advantage that you can easily run it through a program like G.Projector to get it into a wide range of projections easily. Software that can start in other projections tends to a be a lot more complicated, so you might want to try just drawing the distortion into the map and then projecting it. The distortion takes the form of stretching things out from east to west, with the amount of stretching increasing as you get closer to the poles.

Is there a way to know where the coastline should be more complex or more smooth?

Generally, the more complex coastlines are a result of convergent tectonic boundaries, where plates are, or have smashed together. Where they are moving apart, things tend to be simpler. Southeast Asia has multiple convergent boundaries. Continental seas, where part of a continent is flooded can also have more complex boundaries, the North Sea, Baltic Sea, Hudson Bay, and the Northwest Passage are examples of continental seas.

Also, do you know where basin forms?

Ocean Basins form where continents move apart.



On Earth, The Atlantic is a comparatively "recent" example of an ocean basin forming when North and South America split apart from Africa and Eurasia. The Great Rift Valley, Red Sea, and Gulf of Aden are examples of the same process at much earlier stages.