Trace fossils from the Paleocene-Middle Eocene Monte Sporno flysch complex, northern Apennines, Italy
Abstract: The trace fossil assemblages exposed at the Armorano road section in the Monte Sporno unit, Northern Apennines, Italy, occur in a turbidite sequence composed of fine-grained limestones (mudstones) and argillaceous limestones (wackestones) together with coarser grained calcareous sandstones and claystones, both turbiditic and hemipelagic. Fodinichnial vertical burrows of post-depositional origin and pascichnial horizontal trails of pre-depositional origin alternates depending on lithology. The fine-grained beds of the section exhibit the greatest variety of ichnotaxa. Post-depositional burrows, such as Chondrites sp. and Zoophycos sp, occur herein frequently and the sediment is in some parts almost totaly bioturbated. In the coarser grained beds, vertical burrows are missing and a more monotonous ichnofauna occur, dominated by pre-depositional horizontal trails like Taphrhelminthopsis sp. Ichnotaxa such as Helminthoida (ichnosp. Helminthoida labyrinthica) and ?Megagrapton sp. are also present in the section together with six other ichnogenera, all reflecting a deep-sea community, and with characteristic elements of the Nereites ichnofacies.
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