Geological data describes the evolution of Australia's passive continental margins through five seafloor-spreading episodes. The earliest episode occurred 155 million years ago off northwestern Australia, with the latest starting 55 million years ago south of Australia. This dataset is provided by the Australian Ocean Data Network.
Use Cases
- Modeling lithospheric thermal contraction based on postbreakup subsidence mechanisms described
- Analyzing rift-phase subsidence patterns based on descriptions of rift-graben evolution
- Studying sedimentation rates based on descriptions of exponential decline towards the breakup unconformity
- Mapping seafloor-spreading episodes based on the timeline of five separate events
Strengths
- Describes five distinct seafloor-spreading episodes with specific timelines (155 m.y. ago to present)
- Details protracted geological processes including rift-graben evolution 40-50 m.y. before breakup
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
Provenance
- Source
- Australian Ocean Data Network
- Time Range
- Covers geological events from 155 million years ago to the present
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-04-16 13:53:33.581950; freshness should be verified
- Geography
- Focuses on the divergent, passive continental margins around Australia