The participation of microorganisms in construction and destruction of sedimentary structures is widely recognized, and so is the importance of studying such geological processes in modern systems, where the conditions, participating forces, and the results can be observed and recorded. This information is important for understanding and interpreting corresponding processes if their effects were preserved as part of the fossil record. The present contribution refers to topics discussed during the 9th International Bioerosion Workshop in Rome on Oct. 23–27, 2017, dedicated to the evaluation of microbial traces as paleoecological and paleobathymetric indicators. The paper reviews the habitats, methods of collection, and preparation of samples, followed by observation of extracted microbial euendoliths. This approach is complemented by producing images of three-dimensional display of inhabited microborings in their original positions using resin-casting and double embedding of the microbially invaded substrates. This contribution stresses the value of recognizing the microboring organisms’ identities as a key aspect of the interpretation of their traces. It discusses different and complementary ways of how to achieve such parallel assessments. It reports on the importance of photo-documentation and morphometric evaluation of microbial populations, while avoiding possible artefacts caused by the methods used. The study also briefly summarizes the distribution patterns of microboring organisms and their boring and etching traces along depth profiles. Problems arising in the naming of complex traces and the relation to biological nomenclature are discussed.

中文翻译：

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接近微生物生物侵蚀

微生物参与沉积构造的建造和破坏已得到广泛认可，在现代系统中研究此类地质过程的重要性也得到了广泛认可，在现代系统中，条件、参与力和结果可以被观察和记录。如果它们的影响作为化石记录的一部分保存下来，那么这些信息对于理解和解释相应的过程很重要。目前的贡献是指 2017 年 10 月 23 日至 27 日在罗马举行的第 9 届国际生物侵蚀研讨会期间讨论的主题，该研讨会致力于评估微生物痕迹作为古生态学和古水深测量指标。该论文回顾了栖息地、收集方法和样品制备，然后观察了提取的微生物真内石。通过使用树脂浇注和微生物侵入基材的双重嵌入，在原始位置生成有人居住的微孔的三维显示图像，对这种方法进行了补充。这一贡献强调了将微生物身份识别为解释其踪迹的关键方面的价值。它讨论了如何实现这种并行评估的不同和互补的方法。它报告了微生物种群的照片记录和形态测量评估的重要性，同时避免了由所使用的方法引起的可能的人工制品。该研究还简要总结了微生物的分布模式及其沿深度剖面的钻孔和蚀刻痕迹。