TRACE FOSSILS OF TALITRID SANDHOPPERS IN INTERGLACIAL LITTORAL CALCAREOUS SANDSTONES, CORNWALL, UK

Small (<6cm) isolated cylindrical shafts observed in carbonate-cemente d current-bedded interglacial littoral sands ('sandrock') in Cornwall have previously been interpreted as intrasedimentary stalactites. An a lternative explanation as trace fossils of the ichnogenus Skolithos is proposed. Probable attribution to talitrid Amphipoda (sandhoppers), i n particular Talitrus saltator (Montagu), is supported by the similari ty of the features to the modem burrows of this organism, the facies-d ependence of the features, and by independent evidence on the backshor e-frontal dune environment of deposition. The ecological requirements of T. saltator support the interpretation of the raised beaches as int erglacial in status based on thermoluminescence (TL) dating and aminos tratigraphy, and conflict with a recent suggestion that they may be of cold stage origin. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd