Bioturbation is the physical reworking and mixing of soils or sediments by living organisms, such as infaunal invertebrates, plant roots, and burrowing vertebrates, which alters sediment structure, porosity, and geochemical gradients. As a sedimentary phenomenon, it modifies depositional fabrics, enhances particle and solute transport, and influences diagenetic pathways by redistributing organic matter and electron acceptors. Bioturbation affects redox zonation, nutrient cycling, and preservation potential of sedimentary structures, body fossils, and chemical signatures, thereby playing a critical role in benthic ecosystem functioning, trace fossil formation, and interpretation of paleoenvironmental and stratigraphic records.
Stand on the damp sand on a California beach and chances are you're standing on top of an active earthworks site. Sand hoppers (Megalorchestia spp.), the tiny, shrimp-like creatures commonly found eating away at kelp on the ...
Earth Sciences
3 hours ago
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At just an inch (2.5 centimeters) long, the sand hoppers skipping across California's Isla Vista Beach at dawn don't exactly look like a force of nature. But a new study reveals that these shrimp-like creatures might be doing ...
Earth Sciences
Sep 16, 2026
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Venice really is sinking. Sort of. The home of gondolas, bridges and canals is built across a collection of islands, and the sediments beneath them are gradually compacting, causing the ground to subside. But while the land ...
Earth Sciences
Sep 4, 2026
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A biological methane filter on the seafloor can form much faster than scientists previously believed. An international research team including a University of Bremen researcher observed this over six years at a newly formed ...
Earth Sciences
Sep 3, 2026
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A study published in the journal Ecological Monographs indicates that large mammals, such as tapirs, peccaries, agoutis and deer, alter the chemical composition of litter and soil in tropical forests of the Brazilian Atlantic ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 25, 2026
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In productive marine environments, a square meter (10.8 square feet) of seafloor can be perforated by hundreds to thousands of isolated and interconnected tunnels through which crawl and writhe a cornucopia of clams, shrimp, ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Aug 21, 2026
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A study examining how feral water buffalo interact with landscapes has uncovered the pest's disastrous impacts on northern long-necked turtles in the Top End's tropical wetlands.
Plants & Animals
Aug 18, 2026
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A new study from Murdoch University has found that the introduced plant disease Phytophthora dieback is indirectly hindering quendas in Western Australia's jarrah forests by reducing their habitat quality and consequently ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 16, 2026
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A new study from Edith Cowan University (ECU) confirms that the presence of fungal food resources is important for supporting the reintroduction of two threatened marsupials to the Shark Bay World Heritage area, which could ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 21, 2026
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Wetlands are a significant producer of methane, a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon dioxide. Yet not all of it escapes into the atmosphere. One reason is crabs. A study published in the journal Environmental Science ...
