High-resolution image treatment in ichnological core analysis: Initial steps, advances and prospects

Ichnological studies have become popular during the last decades, particularly those associated with the development of two major concepts -the ichnofacies model and ichnofabric approach. They have driven ichnology into diverse fields of Earth Sciences, including paleoecology, sedimentology, paleoceanography and basin analysis, as well as applied fields for the oil and gas industry and aquifer characterization. Whereas early ichnological analyses focused on outcrops, later the number of ichnological studies on well cores increased noticeably. Still, ichnological research on cores is hampered by certain limitations (i.e., mainly narrow exposed surface), and the characterization of ichnological properties is complicated when cores are involved. To facilitate ichnological analysis in cores from modern deposits, several techniques (among them, X-rays, magnetic resonance and computed tomography) have been used. With the development of computer software, a new high resolution image treatment has emerged as a powerful tool in different branches of ichnological studies, especially for cores from modern marine deposits. Because applications are numerous and perhaps not familiar to all the scientific community, this paper provides an overview of the usefulness of image treatment in ichnological analysis, its first steps and subsequent development, the novel techniques most recently used in the study of cores from modern marine deposits, and some challenges for future research.