Multi-disciplinary data from four boreholes in the Canning Basin integrates palynological, petrographic, molecular, and stable isotopic analyses of Middle Ordovician rock samples. The study identifies the oldest cryptospores from land plants in Australian strata and correlates biomarker signatures with microbial ecology. Data was published in Global and Planetary Change in 2017 and is hosted by the Australian Ocean Data Network.
Use Cases
- Modeling ancient marine redox conditions based on lateral and temporal variations in lipid biomarker assemblages.
- Studying the early evolution of land plants based on the identification of cryptospores and terrestrial organic matter biomarkers.
- Investigating ecological relationships between methanotrophs and Gloeocapsomorpha prisca based on correlated biomarker signatures.
- Analyzing depositional environment changes in an epicontinental tropical sea using integrated palynological and petrographic data.
Strengths
- Integrates data from four distinct analytical methods: palynological, petrographic, molecular, and stable isotopic.
- Contains a significant paleontological finding: the oldest record of land plants (cryptospores) in Australian Middle Ordovician strata.
- Provides molecular perspective on Ordovician environments, an area with few equivalent biomarker studies.
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 the Canning Basin, Western Australia.
Provenance
- Source
- Australian Ocean Data Network
- Collection Method
- Analyses of cores from four boreholes intersecting the Goldwyer Formation.
- Time Range
- Middle Ordovician period
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-06-23 00:18:02.226333; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- Canning Basin, Western Australia