Middle Ordovician Geochemical and Palynological Data for Early Land Plant Evidence

Molecular and isotopic biomarker data combined with palynological evidence from the Middle Ordovician upper Goldwyer Formation in Australia. This dataset provides a rare combined proxy record for tracking the earliest land plants, specifically non-vascular bryophytes, in a period where microfossils are scarce. The data was contributed by the Australian Ocean Data Network and last updated in 2026.

Use Cases

• Correlating terrestrial organic signals with marine sedimentary records based on long-chain n-alkane distributions.
• Modeling early land plant geographical distribution based on combined biomarker and cryptospore microfossil evidence.
• Investigating the source of retene biomarkers in pre-gymnosperm rocks to refine molecular proxy interpretations.
• Reconstructing Middle Ordovician palaeoclimate conditions based on isotopic compositions of organic molecules.

Strengths

• Combines two distinct data types—biomarker geochemistry and palynology—for a multi-proxy analysis.
• Focuses on a critical and data-scarce period (Middle Ordovician) for early terrestrial life.
• Provides evidence from the earliest occurrence of land plant microfossils (cryptospores) 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 require extraction and structuring for analysis.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Analysis of sedimentary rock extracts for biomarkers and palynological microfossils.

Time Range

Middle Ordovician period

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-27 19:05:55.695088; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australia (upper Goldwyer Formation)