Cretaceous Sedimentary Rock Analysis for Eromanga and Surat Basins

Cretaceous sedimentary rocks underlie 1,500,000 square kilometers of eastern Australia. The Australian Ocean Data Network published this geological analysis, which was last updated in April 2026. It details depositional environments, sequences, and tectonic history spanning approximately 20 million years.

Use Cases

• Analyze changes in sediment composition between Neocomian/Aptian quartz-rich sequences and Albian/Cenomanian quartz-poor sequences.
• Model the two transgressive-regressive cycles described, focusing on the late Aptian and late Albian events.
• Study the distribution of glauconite as an indicator of marine and paralic sequences within the basins.
• Correlate sediment thickness data, such as the 2000 meters preserved in the Eromanga Basin and 700 meters in the Surat Basin, with tectonic history.
• Apply the Baltic Sea depositional model to interpret features related to salinity, planktonic organisms, and benthonic organisms in the ancient sea.

Strengths

• Covers a vast spatial area of 1,500,000 square kilometers in eastern Australia.
• Describes geological processes over a long temporal range of about 20 million years.
• Provides specific sediment thickness measurements, including 2000 meters in the Eromanga Basin.

Limitations

• The primary data format is a PDF/HTML document, requiring manual extraction for computational analysis.
• No raw tabular data or column definitions are provided, limiting direct machine learning applications.
• The dataset's recency (2026) suggests it is a modern compilation, but the underlying core data may be historical.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Published geological analysis and synthesis.

Time Range

Cretaceous period, covering approximately 20 million years.

Freshness

Last updated in April 2026.

Geography

Eromanga and Surat Basins in eastern Australia.