Forty-two major Mesozoic lithofacies types were recovered from an extensive dredging program in 1990. The Australian Geological Survey Organisation (AGSO) conducted this work to provide geological control for seismic interpretations offshore northwest Australia. The rocks document Late Triassic to Early Cretaceous depositional environments, including shelf carbonates, volcanics, and progressively deeper-water deposits.
Use Cases
- Modeling Late Triassic reefal petroleum reservoir potential based on recovered reef and peri-reefal deposits.
- Analyzing facies similarity with other southern Tethyan margins based on described foraminiferal and ostracod microfaunas.
- Studying the transition from fluvial-paralic siliciclastics to marine deposits during the Early Jurassic.
- Investigating the timing and impact of volcanism along the margin during Late Triassic-Mid Jurassic rifting.
- Mapping subsidence history and sediment deposition from the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous.
Strengths
- Forty-two distinct lithofacies types were identified and recovered.
- The dredging program was conducted to provide direct geological control for seismic interpretations.
- The description provides a detailed chronological interpretation of depositional environments from Late Triassic to Early Cretaceous.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Data files are in PDF and HTML formats, which may require conversion for quantitative analysis.
Provenance
- Source
- Australian Ocean Data Network
- Collection Method
- Dredging program undertaken by AGSO in 1990.
- Time Range
- Mesozoic period, specifically Late Triassic (Norian-Rhaetian) to Early Cretaceous.
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-05-05 02:15:07.088281; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- Northern Exmouth Plateau and Rowley Terrace, offshore northwest Australia.