Cretaceous to Holocene Marine Rock and Sediment Samples from the Gippsland Basin

Geoscience Australia Data provides information on 18 dredge hauls recovered from the deepwater Gippsland Basin during the 1998 Franklin Cruise FR11/98. The dataset describes lithologies, ages, and paleo-environments of rocks and sediments, including Late Cretaceous volcanics and Neogene calcareous strata. The study was based on seismic reflection profiles and morphological features to site the dredges.

Use Cases

• Reconstructing Late Cretaceous volcanic activity and Tasman Sea rifting based on described basalt, hyaloclastite, and breccia samples.
• Analyzing paleoenvironmental shifts from coastal to deep marine conditions based on palynological age data and sediment descriptions.
• Studying the composition and distribution of Neogene to Holocene calcareous oozes and marly sediments in a deepwater basin.

Strengths

• Contains samples from 18 distinct dredge hauls with specific water depth ranges (e.g., 3300-3800 m).
• Provides lithological descriptions for four broad rock categories with inferred geological ages.
• Study design was informed by seismic reflection profiles for targeted sampling.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Rock samples are not directly dated; ages are inferred from geological context.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Dredge hauls recovered during R/V Franklin research cruise FR 11/98, sited using seismic reflection profiles.

Time Range

Late Cretaceous (Turonian to Campanian, ~90-74 Ma) to Holocene.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-20 03:08:20.280466; freshness should be verified

Geography

Deepwater Gippsland Basin, offshore southeastern Australia.