Traces of the action of mechanical and chemical boring, scraping or crushing organisms on hard substrates appear in fossil carbonates as old as the Precambrian, providing valuable palaeoenvironmental indicators. Bioerosion has been extensively studied in tropical seas, but data from cold-temperate to polar settings remain sparse. This book presents an experimental study into the pace of carbonate degradation and the chronology of boring community development along a bathymetric gradient in high-latitude settings.

Material and methods.- The Kosterfjord study site.- Bioerosion patterns.- Carbonate accretion patterns.- Quantitative bioerosion and carbonate accretion.- Ecological and palaeoenvironmental implications.- Summary and conclusions.- Outlook.