Middle Ordovician Geochemical and Palynological Data for Early Land Plant Evidence

Biomarker and palynological data from the Middle Ordovician upper Goldwyer Formation in Australia. The dataset includes molecular proxies like long-chain n-alkanes and their isotopic compositions, used to identify the earliest evidence of land plants. It was published by Geoscience Australia Data and last updated on 2026-04-20.

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 the source of the biomarker retene in pre-gymnosperm geological periods.

Strengths

• Combines two distinct lines of evidence: biomarker data and palynological data.
• Focuses on a significant geological period (Middle Ordovician) for early land plant evolution.
• Data is associated with a specific geological formation, the upper Goldwyer Formation.

Limitations

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

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Analysis of sedimentary rock extracts for biomarkers and microfossils.

Time Range

Middle Ordovician period

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-20 02:39:16.471215; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australia (upper Goldwyer Formation)