Applications of Ichnology to Petroleum Exploration: A Core Workshop

The field of ichnology (the study of animal-sediment relationships) is undergoing rapid expansion. Increased significance is being attached to trace fossils in environmental and diagenetic interpretations of rock units and in establishing basic stratigraphic frameworks. The subject, therefore, is of importance not only for ichnologists but also for invertebrate and vertebrate paleontologists, paleoecologists, sedimentologists, stratigraphers, and resource geologists. The main purpose of this workshop is: a) to introduce the basic concepts of ichnology; b) to learn how to recognize basic types of trace fossils in core; c) to place these structures in their appropriate paleontologic, sedimentologic, and stratigraphic content; and d) to integrate this data with other lines of evidence to aid in petroleum exploration.
The Conceptual Framework of Ichnology Available to Purchase
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Published:January 01, 1992
Abstract
Trace fossils are difficult to identify and classify phyllogenetically but can be assigned relatively easily to various behavioral, perservational, and environmental categories. Analysis of these aspects of trace fossils, in turn, can yield information that is invaluable in sedimentary geology.
The most significant contributions of trace fossils have been in paleoecology, sedimentology, and environmental reconstruction, including recognition of local and regional-temporal facies changes, patterns of bioturbation, and documentation of individual paleoecological parameters. Trace fossils are potential indicators of bathymetry, currents, food supplies, aeration, rate of deposition, depositional history, substrate stability, and salinity. They are emerging as useful tools in the developing fields of sequence stratigraphy, allostratigraphy, and event stratigraphy.