Methodology and Techniques - Trace Fossils as Indicators of Sedimentary Environments - page 239

Chapter 9

Methodology and Techniques

Dirk Knaust 1
Statoil ASA, Stavanger, Norway
1 Corresponding author: e-mail: [e-mail]

1. INTRODUCTION
Bioturbation, discrete trace fossils, and ichnofabrics appear with a wide range of
preservation styles in the sedimentary record. The taphonomic and diagenetic
history, together with subsequent weathering, is able to produce different
expressions of the same structure, which may have unlike appearances in con-
trasting lithologies such as sandstone, mudstone, and limestone. The utilization
of all ichnological aspects in facies analysis and in the interpretation of sedi-
mentary environments is only possible when the visibility of such biogenic
sedimentary structures can be optimized. This, in turn, implies that themethodol-
ogy for their study varies quite a lot from case to case and the continuously
growing number of studies dealing with the methodology in ichnological
investigations documents the solutions achieved so far.
Previous overviews about techniques applicable to reveal biogenic struc-
tures were provided by Farrow (1975) and Ekdale et al. (1984) . For a broader
outline, the reader is referred to standard texts on sedimentary techniques by
Bouma (1969) , Tucker (1988) , and Coe (2010) . With respect to neoichnological
methods, a wealth of information is available in the biological literature but only
main aspects can be dealt with here (see Dashtgard and Gingras, 2012 ).
Stockdale et al. (2009) review available technology to investigate microscale
biogeochemical heterogeneity in sediments, whereas St-Onge et al. (2007)
and L¨wemark (2007) reconsider several techniques applied in the examination
of cored marine sediments. Finally, image analysis is an important process in
the documentation and investigation of biogenic sedimentary structures and
is covered in great detail by Francus (2004) .
This chapter aims to touch on and to present some of the most relevant
methods in ichnology in order to allow the reader to become familiar with them,
to provide key references for accessing further information, and finally to utilize
these methods in the wide field of facies analysis. It will not repeat details of
standard techniques and methodologies, which can be found in the cited refer-
ences, although some effort

is given to the revitalization of significant