Palynology of Mesozoic dredge samples from the North West Shelf

Updated: 2018-04-20

Palynological examination was carried out on 34 sedimentary rock samples dredged from the offshore Rowley Terrace (Canning Basin), Scott and Exmouth Plateaux, and northern Carnarvon Terrace (Carnarvon Basin). The samples represent (1) an Upper Triassic (Rhaetian) to Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) sequence of paludal to restricted-marine character on the Rowley Terrace, with a sample gap in the Early Jurassic; (2) an Upper Jurassic (Oxfordian- Kimmeridgian) sequence of shallow-marine characler on the Rowley Terrace; and (3) a Lower Cretaceous (Valanginian-Aptian) sequence of open-marine character on the Carnarvon Terrace. Most samples yielded rich to very rich and varied dinocyst and spore-pollen floras, and were dated with reasonable confidence. Long-term changes are detected in environments of deposition from different areas, and some of the changes are suggested to be of eustatic origin.