The sedimentary environments and redox conditions of the Lower Triassic Osawa Formation in the Southern Kitakami Terrane were reconstructed based on lithofacies, trace fossils, and other paleontological content. The muddy and sandy lithofacies of the Osawa Formation lack evidence of storm waves despite the presence of storm-induced turbidites, suggesting that the oldest deposits of the Osawa Formation were deposited in the proximal part of the outer shelf. In turn, water depth increased from the lower to upper part of the formation, ultimately recording the distal part of the outer shelf. In addition to sandy lithofacies caused by turbidity and traction currents, multiple sandy layers within the muddy lithofacies would have originated via supply into the prodelta setting from a fan delta system. Collapses of the delta front or river system floods could have generated hyperpycnal flows, resulting in abundant supplies of mud and organic matter. Trace fossil analyses revealed that the degree of bioturbation (ichnofabric indices) dramatically decreased as water-depth increased, indicating a steep oxic-dysoxic gradient along the onshore-offshore transect. Diagenetic pyrite framboids indicative of dysoxic/anoxic benthic conditions are abundant at greater water depths. Abundant pyrite framboids less than 6 μm in diameter suggest intermittent euxinicity. With an increase in global weathering, abundant sediment supply including organic matter from the fan delta system could have contributed to the development of ocean redox stratification, which appears to have impacted on the adaptation of both nektic and benthic animals of this area during the Early Triassic.

Lack of evidence prevents an understanding of how ghost crabs create burrows underground. For the reconstruction of ichnogenetic stages in the burrows of ghost crabs, we report on how the burrows of the ghost crab Ocypode stimpsoni from the foreshore and backshore on Ikarashi beach, Niigata, Japan are created. Plaster casting of the burrows reveals detailed morphology with bioglyphs on the burrow wall. The casts of burrows show a variety of morphologies, such as J-and Y-shapes. Based on the burrow ichnogeny, J-shaped burrows were well constructed at a shallower level of the waterline underneath the beach, occasionally creating a second opening of the burrow. In turn, Y-shaped burrows were constructed at a deeper waterline, thereby recycling and reburrowing the deepest part of the J-shaped burrow. As a result, the total depth of Y-shaped burrows tends to be larger than that of J-shaped burrows. The depth and mean diameter of the burrows range from 3.3-37.6 cm and 9.28-31.54 mm, respectively, and the depths are apparently shorter than those on a Pacific beach. The lines of evidence suggest that the morphological features of burrows in Ikarashi beach are attributed to a smaller difference in tidal level in the Sea of Japan, where the available space for burrows ought to be limited by the waterline under the ground.