Mesozoic Rocks from the Exmouth Plateau: Petrography and Microfacies Analysis

Australian Ocean Data Network provides a geological dataset from the northern Exmouth Plateau. The data includes detailed petrography and microfacies analysis of dredged sedimentary and volcanic rocks, defining seven major lithofacies associations. The samples cover a temporal range from the Late Triassic to the Cainozoic and were collected from water depths between 2000 and 5600 meters.

Use Cases

• Correlating shallow water carbonate microfacies with coeval platforms in the Alps and Mediterranean based on the 14 defined microfacies types.
• Modeling the subsidence and depositional history of a passive margin based on the described lithofacies associations spanning the Late Triassic to Cainozoic.
• Studying diagenetic processes involving silica, silicates, carbonates, and phosphates as described in the complex transformations.
• Analyzing the transition from rift volcanics to carbonate platform deposition during the Late Triassic to Middle Jurassic based on the defined associations.

Strengths

• Data is derived from detailed petrography and microfacies analysis, enabling the definition of seven major lithofacies associations.
• Samples were collected from a significant depth range (2000-5600 m) along seismic reflection profiles, providing a cross-section of the margin.
• The temporal coverage is extensive, spanning from the Late Triassic to the Cainozoic era.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The primary file formats are PDF and HTML, which may require manual extraction for structured analysis.

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 2026-04-28 15:40:32.386105; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Northern margin of the Exmouth Plateau, southeastern margin of the Tethys ocean.