Shorefaces - Trace Fossils as Indicators of Sedimentary Environments - page 567

FIGURE 10 Backshore succession. (A) Ocypoda quadrata (red arrow), an inferred tracemaker of
Psilonichnus ( Ps ), in a backshore coastal dune complex. Facies also show Planolites ( P ), fugichnia
(fu), and fecal pellets (pe) in the burrow fills. Roots (rt) are from present-day vegetation and cross-cut
the Pleistocene interval. (B)Y-brancheddwelling trace Polykladichnus ( Pk ), attributed to crustacean-
generated backshore burrowing. (C) Backshore coastal eolianite and washover sandstones, cross-cut
by roots (rt).
of non-barred systems. As well, the preserved record of the upper shoreface-
foreshore complex reflects fair-weather conditions and is characterized by ich-
nogenera of the Skolithos Ichnofacies. In contrast, the lower- middle shoreface
complex contains the highest degree of facies variability, both sedimentolog-
ically and ichnologically ( MacEachern and Pemberton, 1992 ). This part of the
shoreface may range from virtually unburrowed HCS, SCS, or QPL sandstone
to thoroughly bioturbated muddy and silty sandstone, because successions con-
sist of both storm deposits and fair-weather accumulation under shoaling