Evidence of Bioerosive Structures in Quaternary Glaciomarine Sediments from Southwestern Iceland

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe Late Weichselian marine and glaciomarine sediments occurring in many places along the coast of Iceland are rich in invertebrate fossils, especially mollusks and barnacles. A diverse ichnofauna, constituted especially by bioerosional traces documenting the activity of predators and animals that use the host shell for attachment or the construction of dwellings, was identified at the localities of Ósmelur, Saurbær, and Brekkubakkar in southwestern Iceland. The ichnotaxa identified include Anellusichnus circularis (Santos, Mayoral, and Muñiz), Caulostrepsis isp., Centrichnus concentricus (Bromley and Martinell), Clionolithes isp., Finichnus peristroma (Taylor, Wilson, and Bromley), Finichnus isp., Sedilichnus asperus (Nielsen and Nielsen), Sedilichnus cf. excavatus (Donovan and Jagt), Sedilichnus gradatus (Nielsen and Nielsen), Sedilichnus smiley isp. nov., Sedilichnus ovalis (Bromley), Sedilichnus paraboloides (Bromley), Sedilichnus simplex (Bromley), and Sedilichnus spongiophilus (Müller).