Mesozoic Rocks Dredged from the Northern Exmouth Plateau and Rowley Terrace

Geoscience Australia's dataset documents 42 major Mesozoic lithofacies types recovered from a 1990 dredging program on the northern Exmouth Plateau and Rowley Terrace margin. The rocks provide geological control for seismic interpretations, revealing a history of Late Triassic shelf carbonates and reefs, Triassic-Jurassic volcanics, and subsequent siliciclastic and deeper-water deposits. This data supports analysis of the region's petroleum potential, particularly for Upper Triassic reefal reservoirs.

Use Cases

• Calibrating seismic interpretations based on direct lithological samples from the margin.
• Assessing petroleum reservoir potential in the Rowley Sub-basin using evidence of Late Triassic reef growth.
• Reconstructing paleoenvironmental and tectonic history from described lithofacies sequences.
• Studying the impact of rifting between Australia and Greater India on Late Triassic-Mid Jurassic volcanism.

Strengths

• Contains a detailed lithological record of 42 distinct Mesozoic rock types.
• Provides direct geological control from a specific 1990 AGSO dredging campaign.
• Includes analysis with implications for petroleum exploration in a defined geographic area.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, specific column names, file size, and license are unavailable across all sources.
• The dataset's structure and accessibility are unclear, as only PDF/HTML formats are mentioned.
• The 'last updated' dates are future dates (2026), indicating potential metadata errors.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia (AGSO)

Collection Method

Dredging program undertaken in 1990.

Time Range

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

Freshness

Last updated dates are inconsistent and in the future (2026-04-30, 2026-04-20, 2026-03-07), suggesting unreliable metadata.

Geography

Northern Exmouth Plateau and Rowley Terrace margin, offshore northwest Australia.