Proterozoic Microfossil Assemblage From Australian Roper Group Shales

Approximately 1.3 billion years old, this dataset documents microfossils from the Proterozoic McMinn Formation shales in Australia's Northern Territory. It includes descriptions of algal cells, filaments, large acritarchs, and giant filaments, curated by the Australian Ocean Data Network. The data was last updated in April 2026.

Use Cases

• Classify microfossil types such as algal cells, filaments, and acritarchs based on morphological descriptions from the McMinn Formation.
• Analyze the relationship between sedimentary environment (fluvial, deltaic, marine) and fossil preservation state using geological context data.
• Correlate organic matter rank and maturation level with proximity to intrusive dolerite sills using geochemical and petrographic study data.
• Compare the advanced flora of this siliciclastic environment with simpler forms from contemporaneous carbonate stromatolitic environments.

Strengths

• Microfossils are noted to be in a particularly good state of preservation due to low thermal metamorphism.
• Geochemical and petrographic data on organic matter composition and maturation level is provided.
• The temporal coverage is precisely defined as approximately 1.3 billion years ago.

Limitations

• Specific row counts, column names, and sample data are unavailable, limiting quantitative analysis.
• The dataset is focused on a single geological group and formation in Northern Australia, limiting geographic scope.
• Primary data formats are HTML and PDF, which may require extraction for computational use.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network.

Collection Method

Extracted from shale samples of the McMinn Formation, likely involving microscopy and geochemical analysis.

Time Range

Proterozoic, approximately 1.3 billion years ago.

Freshness

Metadata was last updated in April 2026.

Geography

Roper Group, Northern Territory, Australia.