Middle Ordovician Environmental and Microbial Data from the Canning Basin, Australia

A multi-disciplinary study integrates palynological, petrographic, molecular, and stable isotopic analyses of cores from five boreholes in the Goldwyer Formation. The research examines depositional environments and microbial diversity within a Middle Ordovician epicontinental sea, contributing to understanding the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event. Data was published via the Australian Ocean Data Network and last updated on 2026-06 04.

Use Cases

• Modeling paleo-environmental conditions based on biomarker indices like Pristane/Phytane ratios and gammacerane.
• Analyzing microbial community shifts based on the presence of methanotrophic bacteria indicated by 3-methylhopane indices.
• Studying the geographical evolution of early land plants based on the identification of cryptospores and terrestrial biomarkers like retene.
• Correlating depositional facies with biological assemblages using data on acritarchs, chitinozoans, conodonts, and graptolites.

Strengths

• Integrates multiple analytical disciplines including palynology, petrography, molecular, and stable isotope data.
• Focuses on the significant Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event, a crucial period in Paleozoic life.
• Includes the oldest identified record of land plants (cryptospores) in Australian Middle Ordovician strata.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data freshness should be verified despite a last updated date of 2026-06-04.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Analyses of cores from five boreholes intersecting the Goldwyer Formation.

Time Range

Middle Ordovician period

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-04 06:08:17.152443

Geography

Canning Basin, Western Australia