Middle Ordovician Geochemical and Palynological Data for Early Land Plant Evidence

Biomarker and palynological data from the Middle Ordovician upper Goldwyer Formation provides evidence for the earliest land plant microfossils in Australia. The work combines molecular proxies like long-chain n-alkanes and their isotopic compositions with cryptospore microfossil records. This dataset, sourced from the Australian Ocean Data Network, links geochemical signatures to palynology to study early plant evolution where fossil records are sparse.

Use Cases

• Tracking terrestrial organic matter contributions based on long-chain n-alkane distributions.
• Distinguishing between bryophyte and aquatic macrophyte sources based on isotopic compositions of biomarkers.
• Assessing the early geographical distribution of land plants based on combined molecular and palynological proxies.
• Investigating non-conifer sources of retene biomarker in pre-Silurian rocks.

Strengths

• Data combines biomarker geochemistry with palynological microfossil evidence, a relatively rare approach for the period.
• Focuses on the Middle Ordovician upper Goldwyer Formation, recording the earliest land plant microfossils in Australia.
• Includes isotopic composition data for molecular proxies to help distinguish between organic matter sources.

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 data_gov_au, focusing on a specific Australian formation.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Analysis of sedimentary rock extracts for biomarkers and palynomorphs.

Time Range

Middle Ordovician period

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-23 00:05:09.327374; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Upper Goldwyer Formation, Australia