Uranium and Organic Carbon in Australian Shales from Proterozoic to Cretaceous

Uranium concentrations in organic-rich shales can range over two orders of magnitude, from less than 5 to over 500 parts per million. This dataset from the Australian Ocean Data Network examines correlations between uranium, total organic carbon, and pyrolysis oil yield to predict hydrocarbon potential. It reviews controlling factors and provides examples from Australian marine shales deposited from the Mesoproterozoic to the Late Cretaceous.

Use Cases

• Predicting total organic carbon content in shales based on uranium concentration correlations.
• Calibrating hydrocarbon potential of source rocks using uranium and pyrolysis yield data.
• Analyzing the impact of diagenetic processes and maturation on uranium-organic carbon relationships.
• Modeling secular and spatial variations in uranium enrichment across geological time and basins.

Strengths

• Explicitly states uranium concentration ranges from <5 to >500 ppm.
• Covers a wide temporal range from the Mesoproterozoic to the Cretaceous.
• Focuses on specific Australian basins: Greater McArthur, Georgina, Eromanga, and Bight.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the Australian focus.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Likely contains geochemical measurements and analysis from rock samples and well logs.

Time Range

Mesoproterozoic to Cretaceous

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-04 06:17:50.684960; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australian marine basins: Greater McArthur, Georgina, Eromanga, and Bight.