Lower Carboniferous Spores from the Bonaparte Gulf Basin, Australia

55 species of plant microfossils were recovered from Lower Carboniferous sediments in four boreholes from the Bonaparte Gulf Basin. The palynological flora is dominated by the species Granulatisporites frustulentus, which accounts for 44-83 percent of spore populations. This dataset from Geoscience Australia documents the well-preserved assemblages, including one new genus, Exallospora, and confirms a Visean age for the sediments.

Use Cases

• Biostratigraphic correlation based on spore assemblages described from marine sediments
• Paleoenvironmental reconstruction based on the distribution of trilete sporae dispersae
• Taxonomic study of fossil spores, including analysis of the new genus Exallospora
• Age confirmation of sedimentary units using spore forms comparable to northern hemisphere Lower Carboniferous species

Strengths

• Well-preserved assemblages of plant microfossils from four distinct boreholes
• Documents 55 species distributed among 32 genera, including one newly instituted genus
• Provides quantitative data on dominant species prevalence (44-83%)

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 the specific borehole locations

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Recovered from Lower Carboniferous sediments in four boreholes

Time Range

Visean age (Lower Carboniferous)

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-14 03:22:50.561545; freshness should be verified

Geography

Bonaparte Gulf Basin, Western Australia and Northern Territory