Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
ichnological ideas. This historical aspect is clearly seen in the radical changes
introduced by the advent of digital media. The impact of digital technologies
such as internet, email, and PDF, brought the ability to easily move ichnological
information between media and to access or distribute it remotely. Similarly,
they implied a greater interconnectedness between researchers and encouraged
social research. Nowadays, the
Skolithos
forum and the
Ichnology Newsletter
are digital-based media widely used for informal communications. However,
in contrast with other scientific disciplines, ichnology is lacking a database
of ichnological data. With increased accessibility to and elaboration upon
advanced analytical techniques, new methods and perspectives in the study of
trace fossils are recently emerging. These include molecular paleontology
methods, 3-D visualization, and computer modeling of trace fossils, topoichnol-
ogy, theoretical foraging (i.e., the studies by Gong, Hu, Si, Plotnick in
Supplementary Material:
http://booksite.elsevier.com/9780444538130
see
Knaust, 2012b
). It is desirable that these innovations should bring the same stim-
uli of the techniques designed and improved by the Senckenberg am Meer sci-
entists (e.g., box cores, sediment peels, resin casts;
Cad
´
e and Goldring, 2007
).
In conclusion, this historical synthesis shows that innovation in ichnology is
fueled
by a complex interplay of factors: not only scientific but also geopolit-
ical, social, and technological. Historical knowledge of such factors will inspire
new directions in further investigations and define the place of ichnology in our
culture.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Andrea Baucon sincerely thanks Richard G. Bromley and Dirk Knaust for the invitation
to compile this contribution. The chapter greatly benefited from the constructive reviews
of G¨nther Hertweck and Richard G. Bromley. This chapter directly benefited from helpful
correspondence with Leonardo Ambasciano, Matteo Belvedere, David Bressan, Mathias
Heckroth, Scott Linklater, Duncan McIlroy, Fabio Massimo Petti, and Maˇa Suri´. The work
of Hu, Hu, Song, Wang, Yi-ming, Zhang, and Zhang was supported by the National Natural
Science Foundation of China (No. 40872001) and by the Foundation from the Higher Edu-
cation Innovative Teams of Henan Province, Developing Projects of Science and Technology
of Henan Province (No. 092300410167), and the Doctoral Program Fund of High education of
China (No.20094116110002), as well as Open Projects of Key Laboratory of Biogenic Traces
& Sedimentary Minerals of Henan Province (No. OTMP0904).
REFERENCES
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