Palynology of the Oakvale-1 Corehole: Oligocene-Miocene Pollen and Spore Assemblages

Palynological analysis of the marine Oligocene-Miocene Geera Clay and Renmark Group in the Oakvale-1 corehole, western Murray Basin, South Australia. The dataset contains diverse and well-preserved assemblages of spores, pollen, and dinoflagellates, providing fossil records for extant Australian taxa and the first Australian fossil records for some pollen types. A quantitative zonation based on major pollen taxa frequencies divides the sequence into two major zones, with the younger zone further divided into four sub-zones.

Use Cases

• Reconstructing past vegetation and climate based on pollen and spore assemblages described.
• Studying the evolution and distribution of specific plant families (e.g., Myrtaceae, Nothofagus, Podocarpaceae) based on their fossil pollen presence.
• Correlating geological strata between regions using the identified pollen zones, such as the Triporopollenites bellus Zone.
• Investigating marine-terrestrial linkages through the concurrent analysis of pollen and dinoflagellate cysts.

Strengths

• Diverse and well-preserved assemblages of spores, pollen, and dinoflagellates are documented throughout the sequence.
• Provides the first fossil record in Australia for pollen of Utricularia and Gardenia, as noted in the description.
• A statistically calculated quantitative zonation enables division into two major zones and four sub-zones.

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/temporal bias inherent to a single corehole location.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Palynological analysis of core samples from the Oakvale-1 corehole.

Time Range

Oligocene to Miocene

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06 27 18:40:02.011170; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Western Murray Basin, South Australia