Late Cretaceous-Palaeogene Nannofossil Biostratigraphy from Challenger No. 1 Well

Late Cretaceous-Palaeogene calcareous nannofossil assemblages from the Challenger No. 1 well offshore Perth Basin revise the age of the Challenger Formation type section from Late Eocene to Middle Eocene-Oligocene. The dataset, provided by the Australian Ocean Data Network, identifies three major disconformities and shows the section is more complete than coeval sections from nearby Deep Sea Drilling Project sites. It contrasts offshore marine Palaeogene continuity with the single onshore unit, the Kings Park Formation.

Use Cases

• Refining lithostratigraphic unit correlations based on biostratigraphic age equivalents mentioned in the description
• Identifying major geological disconformities based on the three condensed sections detected
• Comparing offshore marine Palaeogene continuity with onshore formations like the Kings Park Formation
• Studying Late Cretaceous nannofossil assemblages potentially representing the Lancelin beds and Gingin Chalk

Strengths

• Identifies three major disconformities (or condensed sections) at specific geological boundaries
• Revises the age of the Challenger Formation type section based on fossil assemblages
• Compares the section's completeness to nearby Deep Sea Drilling Project sites

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Biostratigraphic analysis of calcareous nannofossil assemblages from a well core.

Time Range

Late Cretaceous to Palaeogene (Campanian to Oligocene)

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-27 17:58:03.482937; freshness should be verified

Geography

Challenger No. 1 well, offshore Perth Basin, Western Australia