031723c -- 17th International Ichnofabric Workshop

A specialized announcement, but here it is.

17th International Ichnofabric Workshop

Ichnology following in the footsteps of Richard Granville Bromley

Faxe, Denmark, 23. to 29. October 2023 First Circular

Convened by
Jesper Milàn, Kurt S. S. Nielsen and Lothar H. Vallon (Denmark) Andrew K. Rindsberg and David C. Kopaska-Merkel (United States of America)

Because the last Ichnofabric Workshop (in Alabama, U.S.A.) was cut short and only took place online due to COVID restrictions, we are now planning for a new in-person edition of this biennial meeting with field trips. We invite you all to come to Faxe, Denmark. Will you come?

In 2014, we conducted the ONE ICHNOLOGY! meeting on Bornholm. At that time Richard Bromley and Ulla Asgaard had made the decision not to travel to international meetings anymore owing to poor health. Our solution was to take an international meeting to their doorstep. As far as we can tell that was a great success.

Although Richard has since left us and Ulla probably won’t be able to join us on this occasion, we would like to invite you all to another edition of this meeting, this time in Faxe, Denmark. Richard G. Bromley has shaped modern ichnology as few others have. Palaeoichnology can hardly be conducted without knowledge of neoichnology because as palaeoichnologists we cannot observe the tracemakers in action. To bring both disciplines closer together, Richard created the slogan “One Ichnology!” And with that slogan he wedded biology and taphonomy as impressively documented in his textbook in 1990 and 1996. Our vision for this meeting is to bring neoichnologists and palaeoichnologists together in order to exchange our views and to learn from one another, just as Richard had envisioned. We hope that many neoichnologists will attend and call for oral and poster presentations from neo- and palaeoichnologists alike.

Faxe is built on the only known exposed fossil cold-water coral reef; the small town throve over the centuries by exploiting this very limestone. The limestone contains a huge diversity of organisms that built the reef and lived within it. Bioeroders also made their home there; they are few but we hope that many eyes will increase our knowledge of them. Not far from Faxe lies the UNESCO heritage site of Stevns Klint with a complete section of the K-Pg boundary, binding the previous 16th and the current 17th Ichnofabric Workshops together. Here, typical bioturbation structures of the Zoophycos ichnofacies can be observed as well as the “impact of the impact” on the benthic community at the end of the Cretaceous. Stevns Klint will be our one-day pre-meeting field trip on 23. October.

We are also planning a post-meeting field trip to Bornholm and southern Sweden that will give an overview of the Palaeozoic and Mesozoic trace fossils of Scandinavia. Bornholm has a wealth of trace fossils to offer and was Richard’s and Ulla’s chosen residence for several decades.

Outstanding field trips that were originally planned for the Alabama workshop (#16) will be conveyed online on weekends before or after the meeting at no extra charge. The auditorium of the Østsjællands Museum in Faxe can host up to 60 people. The website with additional information is currently under construction and will be available soon at www.ichnology2023.dk. Please check regularly for updates. Further updates will be announced over the Skolithos internet forum (https://www.rediris.es/list/info/skolithos.html.en) and the Ichnology group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/415851935172452/).