Mesozoic Rock Samples from the Northern Exmouth Plateau

The Australian Ocean Data Network provides petrography and microfacies analysis of Mesozoic sedimentary and volcanic rocks dredged from the northern Exmouth Plateau. Samples were collected by R.V. Sonne and R.V. Rig Seismic cruises in water depths between 2000 and 5600 meters. The analysis defines seven major lithofacies associations and 14 microfacies types, detailing the Late Triassic to Recent geological history of the margin.

Use Cases

• Classifying lithofacies associations based on detailed petrography and microfacies analysis.
• Correlating shallow water carbonate microfacies with coeval platforms in the Alps and Mediterranean.
• Modeling the subsidence history of a continental margin based on the sequence of rock associations.
• Studying diagenetic transformations involving silica, silicates, carbonates, and phosphates.

Strengths

• Analysis is based on geological samples from specific research cruises (SO-8, BMR Cruise 56).
• Defines seven major lithofacies associations and 14 microfacies types for detailed classification.
• Spatial context is provided by collection along seismic reflection profiles on the northern Exmouth Plateau.

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 research vessels R.V. Sonne and R.V. Rig Seismic.

Time Range

Late Triassic to Recent (Cainozoic), with focus on Late Triassic to Middle Jurassic.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-16 09:23:17.906976; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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