Environmental conditions and microbial community structure during the Great Ordovician Bio

A 2017 multi-disciplinary study integrates palynological, petrographic, molecular, and stable isotopic analyses of four borehole cores from the Goldwyer Formation. Data indicate lateral and temporal variations in lipid biomarker assemblages, reflecting changing redox conditions in a Middle Ordovician epicontinental sea. The research includes the oldest record of land plants in Australian Middle Ordovician strata and contributes to understanding the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event from a molecular perspective.

Use Cases

• Modeling ancient redox conditions based on biomarker assemblage variations described in the study
• Analyzing the ecological relationship between methanotrophs and Gloeocapsomorpha prisca based on correlated biosignatures
• Studying the geographical distribution of early land plants based on cryptospore and terrestrial biomarker identification
• Correlating microbial community structure with depositional environments using integrated palynological and isotopic data

Strengths

• Integrates data from four distinct boreholes, providing spatial context
• Combines multiple analytical disciplines: palynological, petrographic, molecular, and stable isotopic
• Includes the oldest identified cryptospores in Australian Middle Ordovician strata, a distinctive finding

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Palynological, petrographic, molecular and stable isotopic (δ13C of biomarkers) analyses of cores from four boreholes intersecting the Goldwyer Formation.

Time Range

Middle Ordovician period

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03 17:01:11.337188; freshness should be verified

Geography

Canning Basin, Western Australia