Late Cretaceous-Palaeogene Nannofossil Biostratigraphy from the Challenger Well

Late Cretaceous-Palaeogene calcareous nannofossil assemblages document a more complete geological section than nearby deep-sea drilling sites. The Australian Ocean Data Network published this analysis, which revises the age of the Challenger Formation type section from Late Eocene to Middle Eocene-Oligocene. Data was last updated in April 2026.

Use Cases

• Correlate offshore Perth Basin stratigraphy using identified nannofossil assemblages from the Campanian to Oligocene.
• Revise lithostratigraphic unit ages by detecting Middle Eocene-Oligocene sediments in the Challenger Formation type section.
• Identify major disconformities, such as the missing lowermost Oligocene at the Eocene/Oligocene boundary.
• Compare Late Cretaceous assemblages with the upper Campanian Lancelin beds and upper Santonian-lower Campanian Gingin Chalk.

Strengths

• Identifies three major disconformities or condensed sections within the well sequence.
• Documents a more complete Late Cretaceous-Palaeogene section than coeval sections from nearby Deep Sea Drilling Project sites.

Limitations

• Primary data format is PDF/HTML, requiring manual extraction for computational analysis.
• Sample data and specific row/column counts for fossil occurrences are unavailable.
• Geographic scope is limited to a single well (Challenger No. 1) in the offshore Perth Basin.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network.

Collection Method

Biostratigraphic analysis of calcareous nannofossil assemblages from a well core.

Time Range

Late Cretaceous (Santonian/Campanian) to Palaeogene (Oligocene).

Freshness

Last updated in April 2026.

Geography

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