Learning Outcomes:
At the end of this module students will be have an understanding of:
the basis on which trace fossils are named, and the principal ethologies (behaviour patterns) they represent
how trace fossils are diagnostic of environmental parameters such as salinity, oxygenation, sediment consistency and water depth
how the recurrent association of ichnotaxa (ichnofacies) are characteristic of specific depositional settings, and the use of this in basin analysis
the practical applications of trace fossils in basin analysis, including the appearance of key ichnogenera in field contexts, as well as in randomly oriented sections typical of core
the processes involved in the creation of ichnofabrics, including identifying components generated by overprinting of successive tiers within a community and the emplacement of successive communities
the principal taphonomic processes that impact of skeletal tissues post-mortem and how they inform on environment of deposition]
the processes by which shellbeds and bonebeds form
the identification of the principal groups of invertebrate fossil in hand specimen and thin section
the geological history of the principal groups of invertebrate fossil
Indicative Module Content:
This module includes:
• Lectures
• Peer and group work (presentation and debate)
• Critical writing
• Active/task-based learning
• Completion of an individual project
• Student presentations