Middle Ordovician Biomarker and Palynology Data from the Goldwyer Formation, Australia

Australian Middle Ordovician data from the upper Goldwyer Formation combines biomarker and palynological evidence for early land plants. The dataset likely contains distributions and isotopic compositions of n-alkanes and the presence of retene, linked to cryptospore microfossil records. It was published by Geoscience Australia Data and last updated on 2026-04-30.

Use Cases

• Tracking terrestrial organic contributions based on long-chain n-alkane distributions.
• Investigating early land plant evolution based on combined biomarker and palynological evidence.
• Assessing paleoclimate conditions based on isotopic compositions of molecular proxies.
• Studying the source of retene in pre-gymnosperm rocks based on biomarker identification.

Strengths

• Data combines biomarker and palynological evidence, a method described as useful where fossil records are sparse.
• Focuses on the Middle Ordovician, a significant period for the earliest evidence of land plants.
• Linked to the upper Goldwyer Formation, which records the earliest occurrence of land plant microfossils in Australia.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is provided in PDF format, which may complicate direct computational analysis.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Biomarker and palynological analysis of sedimentary rock samples.

Time Range

Middle Ordovician

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-30 13:00:29.288324; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australia (upper Goldwyer Formation)