Paleoenvironmental analysis of the ichnogenus Zoophycos in the Lower Devonian tempestite sediments of the Longmenshan area, Sichuan, China

The hydrodynamic conditions and sedimentation rate are two important environmental factors of the development of the Zoophycos in the Lower Devonian shallow marine deposits where it was mainly affected by storms between the fair weather and storm wave bases. The abundance of Zoophycos at the top of locally frequent storm deposits could indicate a fairly opportunistic behavior and they were formed in the early HST deposit, which had a relatively stable environment with low energy and higher sedimentation rate.