Knowra Bioturbation Bioturbation Bioturbation is the disturbance and mixing of soil or sediment by living organisms through activities such as burrowing, feeding, and root growth. It reshapes sediment structure and moves particles and substances between layers.
Burrowing : The excavation of tunnels or cavities by animals in soil, sediment, or other material. Excavation creates pathways and carries sediment between the surface and deeper layers.
Sediment oxygenation : The supply and distribution of oxygen within sediment. Burrow ventilation can extend oxygenated conditions below the sediment surface.
Bioturbation index : A descriptive scale used to estimate the extent to which biological activity has disturbed sedimentary layering. This index translates visible disruption of bedding into a comparative measure.
Earthworm : A segmented annelid that lives in soil and consumes organic matter and mineral particles. Earthworms ingest and rework soil, mixing organic material through the profile.
Physical sediment reworking : The redistribution of sediment by forces such as waves, currents, wind, or gravity. Physical forces can mix or erode sediment without organism activity.
Bioirrigation : The movement of water through sediment caused by organisms pumping or ventilating burrows. Burrow ventilation moves oxygenated water into sediment beyond the burrow walls.
Nutrient cycling : The movement and transformation of nutrients through organisms and the environment. Particle mixing and irrigation alter where nutrients are released, consumed, and reused.
Ichno-fabric analysis : The study of sedimentary fabrics produced by trace fossils and organism activity. It uses preserved burrow patterns to infer sediment conditions and biological activity.
Lugworm : A marine polychaete worm that lives in a U-shaped burrow and feeds on surface sediment. Its burrow and feeding cycle move sediment and ventilate the seabed.
Sediment transport : The movement of sediment particles by fluids, ice, or gravity. Transport moves particles between locations, while bioturbation rearranges them through organisms.
Show all 28