Mesozoic Rocks from the Exmouth Plateau: Petrography and Microfacies

Geological samples of sedimentary and volcanic rocks dredged from the northern Exmouth Plateau margin by research vessels R. V. Sonne and R. V. Rig Seismic. The dataset includes detailed petrography and microfacies analysis defining seven major lithofacies associations from the Late Triassic to the Cainozoic. It was contributed by the Australian Ocean Data Network.

Use Cases

• Classifying Late Triassic to Callovian carbonate microfacies based on the 14 defined types.
• Modeling the paleogeographic evolution of the Exmouth Plateau based on described facies associations and depositional environments.
• Correlating shallow water carbonate facies with coeval platforms in the Alps and Mediterranean region as mentioned in the description.
• Studying diagenetic processes involving silica, silicates, carbonates, and phosphates described in the rock samples.

Strengths

• Analysis is based on samples from a specific geographic region, the northern Exmouth Plateau margin.
• Defines seven major lithofacies associations spanning from the Late Triassic to the Cainozoic.
• Distinguishes 14 microfacies types for Late Triassic to Callovian 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 bias inherent to data_gov_au, focusing on a specific marine plateau.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

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

Time Range

Late Triassic to Cainozoic (approximately 230 to 0 million years ago).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-27 21:24:13.236350; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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