Hydrocarbon biomarkers from a 1.64-billion-year-old basin in northern Australia reveal the ecological structure of mid-Proterozoic marine communities. The data likely contains molecular fossils indicating anoxic, sulphidic, sulphate-poor, and stratified deep waters, with evidence for phototrophic purple and green sulphur bacteria. It was aggregated by the Australian Ocean Data Network and last updated in 2026.
Use Cases
- Modeling ancient ocean chemistry based on biomarker evidence for anoxic and sulphidic conditions.
- Studying the co-existence of microbial communities based on evidence for Chromatiaceae and Chlorobiaceae bacteria.
- Investigating the timeline of oxygenation events based on evidence from a 1.64-Gyr-old basin.
- Analyzing the relationship between marine sulphate concentration and biomarker preservation in stratified seas.
Strengths
- Focuses on a specific 1.64-billion-year-old geological site.
- Provides evidence for distinct microbial communities (purple and green sulphur bacteria).
- Supports analysis of a key period in Earth's oxygenation history (mid-Proterozoic).
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Freshness should be verified; last updated date is 2026-05-05.
Provenance
- Source
- Australian Ocean Data Network
- Time Range
- Palaeoproterozoic, specifically 1.64 billion years ago.
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-05-05.
- Geography
- Northern Australia.