Late Permian Palynozones and Dated Tuffs from the Bowen Basin, Australia

11 tuff and 18 sedimentary core samples from the Bowen Basin were analyzed to date Permian plant microfossil zones using CA-IDTIMS dating. The work, hosted by the Australian Ocean Data Network, attaches numeric ages to palynostratigraphic units, aiding correlation of coal-bearing sequences. The Dulhuntyispora parvithola zone spans around five million years, nearly reaching the Permian-Triassic boundary.

Use Cases

• Calibrating the age of the APP5 and APP6 spore-pollen zones based on CA-IDTIMS tuff ages.
• Correlating regional coal-bearing sequences based on identified palynostratigraphic units and index species.
• Refining the temporal range of the Microreticulatisporites bitriangularis Subzone and Micrhystridium evansii acme event.
• Studying the transition near the Permian-Triassic boundary using the dated palynofloral succession.

Strengths

• Combines quantitative palynological counts (up to 100 specimens per sample) with high-precision CA-IDTIMS dating.
• Analysis of 29 distinct samples (11 tuff, 18 sedimentary) from a single core provides a coherent stratigraphic section.
• Identifies specific index species and acme events, enabling precise biostratigraphic correlation.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to a single core from the Bowen Basin.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Palynological analysis of core samples using light microscopy and CA-IDTIMS dating of tuff layers.

Time Range

Late Permian, spanning approximately five million years near the Permian-Triassic boundary.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-05 06:11:13.982682; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Bowen Basin, Queensland, Australia, from the APLNG Meeleebee 5 core.