Eocene Calcareous Nannofossil Biostratigraphy from the Otway Basin, Australia

A sequence of biostratigraphic events derived from middle to late Eocene calcareous nannofossil assemblages in four sections of the Otway Basin, southeastern Australia. The dataset compares events with counterparts in New Zealand and correlates them with tropical planktic foraminiferal zones. It was published via the Australian Ocean Data Network and last updated on 2026-06-23.

Use Cases

• Correlating nannofossil and foraminiferal bioevents based on the described sequence of appearances and disappearances.
• Assessing diachroneity of marine sedimentation events in the Eocene Otway Basin based on described transgressive rock units and isolated assemblages.
• Reconstructing paleoenvironmental conditions like surface-water temperature and shoaling events based on described temperate, shallow marine depositional settings.
• Calibrating local biostratigraphic zones against tropical planktic foraminiferal P. zones as described in the comparison.

Strengths

• Focuses on a specific geologic interval spanning from the lowest appearance of Cyclicargolithus reticulatus to the disappearance of Discoaster saipanensis.
• Compares biostratigraphy across two regions (southeastern Australia and New Zealand) and against a tropical standard.
• Analyzes data from four distinct sections within the Otway Basin, suggesting multiple sample points.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to data_gov_au, focusing solely on the Otway Basin.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Study of calcareous nannofossil assemblages from four sections in the Otway Basin.

Time Range

Middle to late Eocene

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-23 02:35:11.887030; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Otway Basin, southeastern Australia; Gambier Embayment and Browns Creek areas.