GS 666: Applied Ichnology

Syllabus​

Characteristics of trace fossils, preservation, ethology, trophic behaviour. Ichnotaxonomy: classification, ichnotaxobases, composite and compound ichnotaxa, hierarchies. Palaeobiology of trace fossils: modes of life, locomotion and burrowing mechanisms, movement ecology. Ichnofacies models and limitations. Ichnofabric methods: bioturbation, tiering, ichnoguilds, constraints. Palaeoecology: environmental parameters, taphonomy, ichnodiversity, ichnodisparity, ecosystem engineering. Sedimentary environments and their influences on trace makers and vice versa. Reservoir depositional modelling. Ichnology in sequence stratigraphy. Applications of trace fossils in biostratigraphy, anthropology, and geoarchaeology. Ichnological evolution through geologic time: Cruziana ichnostratigraphy, arthrophycid stratigraphy, tetrapod trackways, hominid tracks. Well-core and outcrop analysis of trace fosssils.

Texts/References

  • Buatois, L.A. and Mangano, M.G., 2011. Ichnology: Organism-substrate interactions in space and time. Cambridge University Press, 358p. (N.B. The main textbook)
  • Knaust, D. and Bromley, R.G. (Eds.), 2012. Trace fossils as indicators of sedimentary environments. Developments in Sedimentology, 64, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 924p.
  • Seilacher, A., 2007. Trace Fossil Analysis. Springer. Berlin, 226p. (N.B. For practical identification and taxonomy of trace fossils)
  • Knaust, D., 2017. Atlas of trace fossils in well core: appearance, taxonomy and interpretation. Springer. (N.B. For practical identification and taxonomy of trace fossils)
  • Bromley, R.G., 2012. Trace fossils: biology, taxonomy and applications. Routledge / Taylor & Francis, 341p.