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Geosciences
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Perspectives on Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimate, Palaeobiology and Sedimentary Records
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Perspectives on Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimate, Palaeobiology and Sedimentary Records

A special issue of Geosciences (ISSN 2076-3263). This special issue belongs to the section "Sedimentology, Stratigraphy and Palaeontology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2026 | Viewed by 1463

Editor

Prof. Dr. Tadeusz Marek Peryt

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Polish Geological Institute—National Research Institute, Rakowiecka 4, 00-975 Warszawa, Poland
Interests: carbonate and evaporite sedimentology; stratigraphy; petroleum geology; isotope geology; palaeogeography; palaeoclimatology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimate, Palaeobiology and Sedimentary Records

The reconstruction of ancient environments is of primary importance for our understanding of the history of Earth, particularly during the Phanerozoic. Various factors impact sedimentary records, and in this issue, emphasis is placed on palaeogeographical, palaeoclimatic and palaeobiological controls on facies distribution and depositional history in various, but rather shallow than deepwater, recent and ancient environments, both in continental and marine basins. All the controls mentioned are essential, for example, for the onset and development of reefs and other types of carbonate buildups.

This Special Issue encourages contributions exploring various interactions of palaeogeography, palaeoclimate and/or palaeobiology, and its expression in sedimentary records of diversified geological settings and time scales; both case stories and review papers are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Tadeusz Marek Peryt
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Geosciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sedimentology
  • palaeogeography
  • palaeoclimate
  • palaeobiology
  • reefs
  • phanerozoic
  • palaeoenvironments

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 5041 KB  
Article
The Trouble with Ichnofacies
by Spencer G. Lucas
Geosciences 2026, 16(6), 229; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences16060229 - 6 Jun 2026
Viewed by 185
Abstract
For about 60 years, the ichnofacies model has been used to identify trace fossil assemblages associated with sedimentary environments. However, the ichnofacies model faces many problems, including: (1) how ichnofacies are defined; (2) non-environmental controls of trace fossil distribution; (3) trace fossil homeomorphy; [...] Read more.
For about 60 years, the ichnofacies model has been used to identify trace fossil assemblages associated with sedimentary environments. However, the ichnofacies model faces many problems, including: (1) how ichnofacies are defined; (2) non-environmental controls of trace fossil distribution; (3) trace fossil homeomorphy; (4) lack of autecology; (5) facies-crossing ichnotaxa; (6) non-uniformitarian aspects of trace fossil history; (7) monotaxial and other low-diversity ichnoassemblages; (8) ichnoassemblages that do not fit into established ichnofacies; and (9) taphonomic biases. Because of these problems, ichnofacies have become an over-generalized, assumption-ridden, exception-laden model that relies on diverse ad hocisms to explain away many of its shortfalls. Ichnofacies should be abandoned, and the relationship of trace fossils to sedimentary environments should be analyzed in a more granular and precise manner, focused on individual trace fossils or ichnoassemblages in conjunction with analysis of lithofacies and other biofacies data. Fossilized behavior is the conceptual paradigm of ichnology, not ichnofacies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Perspectives on Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimate, Palaeobiology and Sedimentary Records)
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16 pages, 2242 KB  
Article
‘Typical’ No More: Digital Re-Evaluation of Yanguoxia Caririchnium Trackways Reveals Behavioural Complexity
by Anthony Romilio
Geosciences 2026, 16(6), 221; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences16060221 - 2 Jun 2026
Viewed by 263
Abstract
Ornithopod dinosaur trackways (OA and OB) from the Lower Cretaceous Hekou Group at Yanguoxia (Gansu Province, China) have previously been described as “typical”—a term applied to contrast them with swim traces from the same surface rather than as a comprehensive behavioural assessment. Building [...] Read more.
Ornithopod dinosaur trackways (OA and OB) from the Lower Cretaceous Hekou Group at Yanguoxia (Gansu Province, China) have previously been described as “typical”—a term applied to contrast them with swim traces from the same surface rather than as a comprehensive behavioural assessment. Building on published trackway maps, this study uses an expanded suite of quantitative digital analytical tools to reassess ichnotaxonomic affinity, manus–pes relationships, and locomotor behaviour. Pes morphology in both trackways is consistent with the ornithopod ichnogenus Caririchnium, with closest affinity to Caririchnium lotus. However, quantitative analysis reveals crossover events, extreme pes-dominated heteropody, and unusual manus placement that depart substantially from expectations for typical quadrupedal ornithopod locomotion. These features are most parsimoniously explained by trackmaker locomotion under shallow subaqueous conditions, in which partial buoyancy reduced effective forelimb loading rather than reflecting anatomically reduced palmar surfaces. Exploratory statistical analysis indicates left–right asymmetry in pace and step parameters within the OA trackway, raising the possibility of lateralised locomotor behaviour. Together, these findings demonstrate that trackways previously regarded as typical may preserve unrecognised behavioural complexity, and that digital re-evaluation of legacy ichnological datasets can substantially refine interpretations of dinosaur locomotion. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Perspectives on Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimate, Palaeobiology and Sedimentary Records)
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7 pages, 4172 KB  
Communication
New Dinosaur Tracks from the Upper Cretaceous of Xiakou Village (Nanzhang County) and Jiuxian Town (Yuan’an County), Hubei Province, China
by Noura Lkebir, Xiongwei Zeng, Long Cheng and Zhijun Niu
Geosciences 2026, 16(4), 164; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences16040164 - 21 Apr 2026
Viewed by 648
Abstract
This study fills a knowledge gap in the distribution of the Upper Cretaceous dinosaur tracks in central China by examining two newly discovered tracksites near Xiakou village (Nanzhang County) and Jiuxian town (Yuan’an County), Hubei Province. Eleven Isolated tracks were analyzed to identify [...] Read more.
This study fills a knowledge gap in the distribution of the Upper Cretaceous dinosaur tracks in central China by examining two newly discovered tracksites near Xiakou village (Nanzhang County) and Jiuxian town (Yuan’an County), Hubei Province. Eleven Isolated tracks were analyzed to identify the ichnofauna assemblage. Morphometric analysis indicates the presence of tridactyl and rounded morphologies. The tridactyl tracks are consistent with a small-sized theropod and ornithischian ichnofauna, whereas the rounded shape remains ichnotaxonomically indeterminate. These tracks are the first reported dinosaur ichnite from central China at this age. Despite limited preservation, this research highlights how extromorphological factors influence track morphology, a key issue in ichnological studies. Overall, it contributes new data on the presence of dinosaur ichnofauna in China during the late Mesozoic. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Perspectives on Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimate, Palaeobiology and Sedimentary Records)
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