Ordovician Biomarker and Fossil Data from the Canning Basin, Western Australia

A multi-disciplinary study integrates palynological, petrographic, molecular, and stable isotopic analyses from four boreholes intersecting the Middle Ordovician Goldwyer Formation. Data indicate lateral and temporal variations in lipid biomarker assemblages, reflecting changing redox conditions, and include the oldest record of land plants in Australian Middle Ordovician strata. This research contributes to understanding Ordovician marine environments from a molecular perspective.

Use Cases

• Modeling ancient marine redox conditions based on biomarker assemblage variations.
• Studying the early evolution of land plants based on cryptospore and terrestrial biomarker records.
• Investigating ecological relationships between methanotrophs and Gloeocapsomorpha prisca based on correlated biosignatures.
• Analyzing the distribution of Ordovician marine organisms like acritarchs and graptolites across formation units.

Strengths

• Integrates four distinct analytical methods (palynological, petrographic, molecular, isotopic) on a single geological formation.
• Includes the oldest identified cryptospores in Australia, providing a key evolutionary datum.
• Data from four boreholes allows for analysis of lateral and temporal variations.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Multi-disciplinary analyses (palynological, petrographic, molecular, stable isotopic) of cores from four boreholes.

Time Range

Middle Ordovician period

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-14 09:10:35.976797; freshness should be verified

Geography

Canning Basin, Western Australia