Canning Basin Paleo-Reconstruction Using Carotenoid Biomarkers from Crude Oils

Geochemical biomarker data from crude oils and source rocks in the Paleozoic Canning Basin. The dataset likely contains measurements of saturated and aromatic carotenoid-derived compounds to reconstruct paleo-depositional environments. It was implemented by GeoMark Research and published by the Australian Ocean Data Network.

Use Cases

• Characterize paleo-depositional environments based on biomarker hydrocarbon distributions.
• Assess water column stratification and organic matter diversity in ancient epicontinental seaways.
• Correlate specific oil fields with Ordovician, Devonian, or Carboniferous source rocks based on carotenoid signatures.
• Identify the presence of photosynthetic organisms like algae, cyanobacteria, and green sulphur bacteria in source rocks.

Strengths

• Focuses on a large frontier petroleum province (~720,000 km2).
• Analyzes oils from multiple specific fields (e.g., Ungani, Blina, Sundown, West Kora).
• Extends previously published geochemistry studies (Edwards et al. 2013, Spaak et al. 2017, 2018).

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 bias inherent to data_gov_au.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Geochemical analysis of diagnostic biomarker hydrocarbons derived from carotenoid pigments.

Time Range

Paleozoic (Ordovician, Devonian, Carboniferous)

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-05 02:08:52.834401; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Canning Basin, Australia