Ichnological studies in deep-marine successions are of great use for detailing the evolution of these sedimentary environments, as well as highlighting the changes in ambient conditions. In order to investigate these aspects, the deep-marine Maghrebian Flysch Basin of Northern Morocco was chosen for study. Within this basin, two sedimentary successions – the Beni Ider and Tala Lakrah units, comprising calcareous and siliciclastic turbidite sediments and ranging in age from Late Cretaceous to Early Miocene, were examined in detail. An ichnoassemblage (31 ichnogenera, 41 ichnospecies), including 9 graphoglyptid ichnogenera, was recognised, with the ichnoassemblages belonging to the Nereites ichnofacies. Pre- and post-depositional ichnofossils were present in equal amounts, with ichnodiversity being higher in Eocene times.

Comparison and correlation of the ichnological data from Morocco (this study) with data from Spain indicated that the main influences on trace fossil distribution within the successions were broadly similar. Environmental factors, such as substrate, oxygen and nutrient contents, as well as the ambient hydrodynamic regime and the frequency and intensity of turbiditic events, all played an important role. However, the relative importance of these factors varied both spatially as well as temporally within the different parts of the Maghrebian Flysch Basin. Temporal variations were related both to changes in (orogenically-influenced) basin and lobe evolution, as well as changes in global oceanographic and climatic conditions at the Eocene–Oligocene transition.

Over recent decades, the type area of the Maastrichtian Stage in southern Limburg (the Netherlands) and contiguous Belgian territory, and the former ENCI-HeidelbergCement Group quarry (Sint-Pietersberg, Maastricht) in particular, has yielded an exquisitely preserved ichnocoenosis of bioerosional trace fossils, mainly preserved as natural casts in scleractinian corals. More than 20 ichnospecies are here documented, the majority from the type Maastrichtian for the first time. These ichnotaxa constitute a good record of successive colonisation sequences; the present bioerosional ichnocoenosis is regarded to belong to the Entobia ichnofacies.

The Vera Basin is one of a series of interconnected Neogene–Quaternary-age basins located within the Betic Cordillera in SE Spain. The initial marine phase in the basin is represented by the sedimentary succession of the Abad Member (Tortonian–Messinian) and comprises mainly marls with varying amounts of intercalated siliciclastic–calcareous turbidites. The succession contains a rich ichnofauna comprising 12 ichnogenera (21 ichnospecies), which can be subdivided into a number of distinct ichnoassemblages. Detailed analysis of the distribution of these ichnoassemblages reveals that deposition occurred within the Nereites ichnofacies, more specifically, the Paleodictyon sub-ichnofacies, presumably in a lobe-type setting, and at epi- to mesobathyal depths (i.e. 200–1000 m). Changes within the ichnofacies suggest that there is a clear deep-through-to-shallow trend within the succession extending from the older (i.e. Almocáizar Corridor) to the younger (i.e. centre of the Vera Basin) parts of the succession. These changes coincide with the onset of the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) across the region, and correlate well with the pre-MSC through to Lago Mare deposits.

A 425 ka long record from piston core GIK17925-3 taken in the northeastern South China Sea was used to study the environmental conditions controlling the distribution of the Zoophycos trace fossil. The 12 m long core offers a unique opportunity to study the response of the Zoophycos-producing animal to environmental variations over four glacial–interglacial cycles. The trace fossils show a strong glacial to interglacial variation in their abundance with a special preference for intervals with low sedimentation rates. Additional X-ray radiograph studies of piston cores from the Southeast Asian Marginal Seas show that the trace fossil Zoophycos is widespread in slope and deep-marine sediments, with the highest abundances encountered in low sedimentation rate settings. The preference of the Zoophycos producer for low sedimentation rates in a setting with strong seasonal fluctuations in food supply due to the shift between winter and summer monsoons, is interpreted to be the result of a cache-model behaviour, where food is collected during rich times and squirrelled away for poor times. Core GIK17925-3 also offers an opportunity to assess the impact of Zoophycos bioturbation on various palaeoenvironmental proxies. In this core, more than 30 % of the measured data points were more or less strongly affected by Zoophycos bioturbation. Together with the widespread occurrence this percentage indicates that Zoophycos may pose a serious threat to palaeoclimatic reconstructions in cores from low to moderate sedimentation rate sites.