Beaconites antarcticus: a giant channel‐associated trace fossil from the lower old red sandstone of south wales and the welsh borders

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Abstract
Trace fossils of Beaconites type are found abundantly and widely in the Old Red Sandstone magnafacies of the British Isles, particularly in fluviatile deposits, where they occur in or closely associated with channel sandstones. Because of their giant size, however, terminations to the sediment‐filled burrows are almost impossible to detect, and it has hitherto been uncertain whether the Beaconites organism dwelt in or near active rivers, or merely colonized the sandy deposits at their abandoned sites. At Llanstephan in southwest Wales B. antarcticus is preserved in a laterally accreted sandstone, a unique example of the trace fossil being truncated by an erosion surface cut during the sideways growth of a presumed point bar. The Beaconites organism is therefore thought to have lived in and near active river channels, where a moist environment was provided.