Barnicarndy 1: Organic-Walled Microfossils from the Lower Ordovician Nambeet Formation

42 palynological samples from a Lower Ordovician core in Western Australia's Canning Basin, collected by Geoscience Australia's Exploring for the Future program. Digital images accompany this record and include examples of acritarchs, cryptospores, graptolites, and other microfossils. The study assesses microfossil yield and preservation for regional and international stratigraphic correlation.

Use Cases

• Stratigraphic correlation based on identified acritarch species like Rhopaliophora pilata and Athabascaella playfordii.
• Assessing thermal maturity of organic matter based on observed palynomorph color ranges from brown to black.
• Studying early land plant evolution based on the presence of cryptospores mentioned in the description.
• Evaluating microfossil preservation states ranging from poor to good, often within the same sample.

Strengths

• Covers a specific stratigraphic interval (1354.80–2435.04 mRT) within the fully cored Barnicarndy 1 well.
• Documents a diverse suite of microfossils including acritarchs, cryptospores, graptolites, chitinozoans, and scolecodonts.
• Includes digital images of the identified microfossil specimens.

Limitations

• Microfossil yield per sample is, mostly, low according to the description.
• Preservation ranges from poor to good, with specimens often fragmentary or distorted.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia's Exploring for the Future (EFTF) Energy program, via the Australian Ocean Data Network.

Collection Method

Acid-resistant organic-walled microfossils recovered from 42 core samples.

Time Range

Lower Ordovician.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-16 18:51:03.055455

Geography

Barnicarndy 1 well, Barnicarndy Graben, Canning Basin, Western Australia.