Mesozoic Rocks Dredged from the Northern Exmouth Plateau and Rowley Terrace

Forty-two major Mesozoic lithofacies types were recovered from an extensive dredging program in 1990. The rocks indicate Late Triassic shelf carbonates and reefs, Late Triassic-Mid Jurassic volcanics, and a transition to deeper-water Cretaceous deposits. This dataset, from Geoscience Australia, provides geological control for seismic interpretations offshore northwest Australia.

Use Cases

• Modeling Late Triassic reef development for petroleum reservoir potential based on described carbonate facies.
• Analyzing the timing and impact of rifting between Australia and Greater India based on volcaniclastic deposits.
• Reconstructing paleoenvironmental transitions from shallow-marine to deep-water settings described in the facies record.
• Correlating depositional conditions with other southern Tethyan margins based on described foraminiferal and ostracod microfaunas.

Strengths

• Describes 42 distinct Mesozoic lithofacies types recovered.
• Provides a detailed stratigraphic framework from Late Triassic to Cretaceous.
• Links geological observations to petroleum reservoir potential for specific intervals.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data freshness should be verified; last metadata update was 2026-05-14.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Dredging program undertaken by AGSO in 1990.

Time Range

Mesozoic era, with specific focus on Late Triassic to Cretaceous periods.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-14 04:00:27.341443; freshness should be verified

Geography

Northern Exmouth Plateau and Rowley Terrace, offshore northwest Australia.