Animals at work: The modification of substrates and landscapes by biogenic activity in deep time

Substrates and landscapes are strongly affected by biogenic activity. Ichnology, the multidisciplinary science that studies organisms-substrate interactions, has experienced an explosive development during the last decades. Animals interact with their substrates in three fundamental ways: bioturbation (organism activity involving both particle and solute transport within burrows, into the surrounding sediment and across the sediment-water interface, typically resulting in disturbance of the primary sedimentary fabric), bioerosion (biogenic activity involving mechanical or biochemical penetration of a rigid substrate, such as hardgrounds, clasts, bones or rocks) and biodeposition (production or concentration of sediment by the activities of an organism). The impact of organism activity may be profound, resulting in landscape shaping in both continental and marine settings.