The Northern Adriatic Sea as a model for past seas

The Northern Adriatic Sea is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea. As a shallow (average depth: 35 m), semi-enclosed sea lying on continental crust, it is an ideal model for past epeiric (epicontinental) seas. In his 2007 book “The Northern Adriatic Ecosystem: Deep Time in a Shallow Sea” Frank McKinney brought an additional analogy, suggesting that the seafloor ecosystem of the Northeastern Adriatic Sea closely resembles Paleozoic-style ecology.

According to this intriguing idea, the Adriatic Paleozoic-style is characterized by low-nutrient water, low intensity of grazing predation, and relatively few endobenthic (bottom-dwelling) animals.
These remarkable features, united to the peculiar physiographic and ecological context, make the Adriatic Sea an ideal model to understand the relationship between ancient life and sediments. That is why I like so much doing research there!

Hera are some of my papers on the subject:

Baucon, A., Felletti, F. 2016. Does the IchnoGIS method work? Prediction performance at the Mula di Muggia (Northern Adriatic, Italy). In: Tessier B., Reynaud, J.Y. (eds.) Contributions to Modern and Ancient Tidal Sedimentology. Special publication number 47 of the International Association of Sedimentologists. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken

Baucon A., Felletti F. 2013. The IchnoGIS method: Network science and geostatistics in ichnology. Theory and application (Grado lagoon, Italy). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 375

Baucon A., Felletti F. 2013. Neoichnology of a barrier-island system: the Mula di Muggia (Grado lagoon, Italy). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 375

Baucon, A. 2008. Neoichnology of a microbial mat in a temperate, siliciclastic environment. In: Avanzini M., Petti F. (eds.) Italian Ichnology, Studi Trent. Sci. Nat. Acta Geol., 83