Trace fossil assemblages on miocene rocky shores of Southern Iberia

Abstract

The use of rocky palaeoshore bioerosion analysis in the study of palaeontological and geological questions is beginning to bear fruit. Five southern Iberian Neogene rocky shores have been analysed and their bioerosion structures have been identified. The observed ichnodiversity is rather low; eleven ichnospecies were identified. These include bioerosion structures produced by polychaete annelids (Caulostrepsis, Maeandropolydora), clionaid sponges (Entobia), echinoids (Circolites), and endolithic bivalves (Gastrochaenolites). The different ichnoassemblages present in Miocene rocky shores in both Portuguese and Spanish sectors correspond to the Entobia ichnofacies. Comparison with the northeastern counterparts of these shores has also been carried out. The study of southern Iberian Miocene rocky shores made it possible to correlate them with the regional tectonic evolution and the main Neogene transgressive events affecting the region. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.