Middle Ordovician Geochemical and Palynological Data for Early Land Plant Evidence

Middle Ordovician biomarker and palynological data from the upper Goldwyer Formation in Australia, presented by the Australian Ocean Data Network. The dataset provides evidence for the earliest land plant microfossils (cryptospores) in Australia and includes molecular proxies like long-chain n-alkanes and retene. It was last updated on 2026-04-28.

Use Cases

• Tracking terrestrial signals in ancient marine environments based on biomarker proxies like long-chain n-alkanes.
• Assessing the geographical distribution of early land plants based on combined palynological and isotopic evidence.
• Investigating the source of specific biomarkers, such as retene, in pre-gymnosperm geological periods.
• Correlating molecular fossil records with scarce microfossil data to study early non-marine environments.

Strengths

• Combines two distinct lines of evidence: palynological data and geochemical biomarker 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 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 for computational analysis.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Analysis of sedimentary rock samples from the upper Goldwyer Formation.

Time Range

Middle Ordovician period

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-28 12:19:40.729875; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australia (specific formation: upper Goldwyer Formation)