Proterozoic Microfossils from the Roper Group, Northern Territory, Australia

Microfossil assemblage from the McMinn Formation shales of the Roper Group, dated to approximately 1.3 billion years ago. The dataset includes algal cells, filaments, large acritarchs, and giant filaments, with preservation quality attributed to low thermal metamorphism. It was published by Geoscience Australia Data and last updated in April 2026.

Use Cases

• Classifying early eukaryotic microfossils based on described cell and filament morphologies.
• Studying taphonomy and organic matter preservation in low-metamorphism shale environments.
• Comparing Proterozoic microbiotas from siliciclastic versus carbonate-stromatolitic environments.
• Investigating the geochemical conditions for early oil generation from organic matter maturation.

Strengths

• Fossils are described as being in a 'particularly good state of preservation' due to low thermal metamorphism.
• The geological age is specified as approximately 1.3 billion years (Proterozoic).
• The depositional environment is described in detail, ranging from fluvial to marine settings.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for quantitative analysis.
• Data files are in PDF and HTML formats, which may require extraction for structured analysis.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Collection from shale samples of the McMinn Formation, Roper Group.

Time Range

Proterozoic era, approximately 1.3 billion years ago.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-30 12:42:49.076337; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Roper Group, Northern Territory, Australia.