This is a one-year project to investigate the paleoethologic importance, paleoecologic significance and sedimentologic implications of composite ichnofabrics in Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) chalk deposits in Denmark and southern Sweden. An ichnofabric encompasses all aspects of the sediment fabric, texture and structure, as well as early diagenetic phenomena that can be attributed to the bioerosion activities of benthic organisms. A composite ichnofabric consists of a complex of biogenic structures that reflect the tiered arrangement of infaunal animals in a trace fossil community. The research plan includes the following objectives: to determine and describe the spectrum of variation of the diverse ichnofabrics in the Danish and Swedish chalks; to decipher and explain the paleoethologic and paleoecologic significance of particular ichnofabrics, especially in terms of vertical partitioning of the extremely fine-grained substrate; to relate the recurrent ichnofabrics to the various sedimentary microfacies within the chalk units; and to produce a photographic atlas that reveals the details of composite ichnofabrics in the chalks.
