Mesozoic Rock Samples from the Exmouth Plateau and Rowley Terrace

AGSO conducted a dredging program in 1990 on the northern Exmouth Plateau and Rowley Terrace offshore northwest Australia. The program recovered forty-two major Mesozoic lithofacies types, including shelf carbonates, volcanics, and siliciclastics. These samples provide geological control for seismic interpretations and insights into Late Triassic to Early Cretaceous depositional environments.

Use Cases

• Analyze lithofacies types like shelf carbonates and volcanics to reconstruct Late Triassic-Mid Jurassic paleogeography and rifting events.
• Correlate recovered microfossil assemblages with other southern Tethyan margins to assess regional depositional conditions during the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic.
• Evaluate the potential for Upper Triassic reefal and Lower Jurassic platform carbonates to act as petroleum reservoirs based on sample composition and inferred porosity.
• Study the transition from fluvial-paralic siliciclastics to deeper-water deposits like claystones and chalks to model margin subsidence from the Late Jurassic onward.

Strengths

• Forty-two distinct Mesozoic lithofacies types were identified and recovered.
• Samples provide direct geological control for seismic interpretations across a significant offshore margin.

Limitations

• The exact sample count, row count, and specific columnar data are unknown.
• Data collection occurred in 1990, so the physical sample set and associated interpretations may be temporally stale.
• Primary data formats are PDF and HTML reports, limiting direct machine analysis without significant manual extraction.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, originating from AGSO (Australian Geological Survey Organisation).

Collection Method

Dredging program undertaken in 1990 to recover rock samples from the seafloor.

Time Range

Mesozoic era, specifically Late Triassic (Norian-Rhaetian) to Early Cretaceous.

Freshness

null

Geography

Northern Exmouth Plateau and Rowley Terrace, offshore northwest Australia.