Mesozoic Sedimentary and Volcanic Rocks from the Exmouth Plateau

Late Triassic to Cainozoic geological samples were dredged from the northern Exmouth Plateau margin in water depths of 2000-5600 meters by research vessels R.V. Sonne and R.V. Rig Seismic. The dataset, provided by the Australian Ocean Data Network, includes detailed petrography and microfacies analysis defining seven major lithofacies associations. These analyses enable correlation with coeval platform carbonates in the Alps and Mediterranean area of the Tethys ocean.

Use Cases

• Classifying Late Triassic to Middle Jurassic shallow water carbonate microfacies based on detailed petrography.
• Modeling the depositional history of rift volcanics and volcaniclastic associations from the early rift phase.
• Correlating carbonate platform facies with those from the Alps and Mediterranean region of the Tethys ocean.
• Analyzing diagenetic transformations involving silica, silicates, carbonates, and phosphates described in the samples.

Strengths

• Analysis defines seven major lithofacies associations from the Late Triassic to Cainozoic.
• Samples were collected from water depths spanning 2000 to 5600 meters, covering a significant depth gradient.
• Detailed petrography distinguishes 14 Late Triassic-Callovian microfacies types of shallow water carbonates.

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/temporal bias inherent to data_gov_au.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Dredging along seismic reflection profiles by R.V. Sonne (Cruise SO-8) and R.V. Rig Seismic (BMR Cruise 56).

Time Range

Late Triassic to Cainozoic

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-04 05:38:41.605609; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Northern margin of the Exmouth Plateau