Late Palaeozoic Glacial Groove Orientations And Ice Sheet Extent In Western Australia

Late Palaeozoic geological data describes grooved surfaces formed by glacial ice in the Grant Range, Canning Basin. The dataset, published by the Australian Ocean Data Network, interprets ice motion direction and extent based on groove orientation and sedimentary structures. It was last updated in April 2026.

Use Cases

• Reconstructing Late Palaeozoic ice flow direction from the orientation of glacial grooves.
• Mapping the extent of Pilbara ice sheets using the presence of banded iron formation pebbles in diamictites.
• Analyzing sedimentary facies geometry to infer the position of an ice shelf grounding line in the Fitzroy Trough.
• Correlating grooved surface features with specific marine embayment environments from the associated geological descriptions.

Strengths

• Data provides evidence for ice sheet extent over a 400 km distance into the Canning Basin.
• Analysis includes multiple data proxies: groove orientation, sedimentary structures, and pebble composition.

Limitations

• Underlying data sample size (e.g., number of measured grooves or sample sites) is unknown.
• Primary data formats are PDF and HTML, requiring manual extraction for quantitative analysis.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Geological field observation and analysis of rock surfaces and sedimentary deposits.

Time Range

Late Palaeozoic era

Freshness

Last updated in April 2026.

Geography

Grant Range, Fitzroy Trough, and Canning Basin in Western Australia; Pilbara Block.