Tag Archives: Estonia

Inside a secret Soviet missile base — 20 years later

Mark Wilson July 7, 2011 1:52 pm

KURESSAARE, ESTONIA–When I was growing up the Soviet Union was simply an unchangeable fact of life. The United States had an implacable enemy, and we were locked in a struggle that would last my lifetime, at least. That lifetime was … Continue reading →

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Wooster Geologists return to Suuriku Cliff, Saaremaa, Estonia

Mark Wilson July 7, 2011 10:10 am

KURESSAARE, ESTONIA–Today we visited one of Rob McConnell’s (’10)  Senior Independent Study field sites on the northwest coast of Saaremaa. Suuriku Cliff (N58.50875°, E21.99818°; see above image) is an exposure of the Jaani Formation (Lower Silurian, Wenlock). There are two … Continue reading →

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The painful history of the Sõrve Peninsula, Saaremaa, Estonia

Mark Wilson July 6, 2011 1:06 pm

KURESSAARE, ESTONIA–This country has had the historical misfortune to lie between the Russians to the east and the Germans to the west with all their imperial ambitions in the last few centuries. The terrain is deeply glaciated and thus has … Continue reading →

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Return to a Silurian crinoid forest

Mark Wilson July 5, 2011 10:51 am

KURESSAARE, ESTONIA–Today our Wooster Geology team visited a favorite outcrop of mine: the Äigu Beds of the Kaugatuma Formation exposed on the northwestern shore of the Sõrve Peninsula on Saaremaa. These are Late Silurian (Pridoli) limestones with a great abundance … Continue reading →

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Back to the Big Island for the Fourth of July

Mark Wilson July 4, 2011 10:48 am

KURESSAARE, SAAREMAA, ESTONIA–The Wooster Geologists Estonia Team today braved the Baltic Sea again and took a ferry from the island of Hiiumaa to return to their previous field sites on the island of Saaremaa. We worked at Soeginina Cliff on … Continue reading →

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Saying goodbye to the little island of Hiiumaa

Mark Wilson July 3, 2011 10:25 am

KÄINA, ESTONIA–Today we had our last visit to our Silurian quarry working site (where I photographed the Paleofavosites coral fossil above, which by the way was preserved upside-down in the sequence), and then we had lunch in the town of … Continue reading →

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Tiny bit of wildlife on Hiiumaa

Mark Wilson July 1, 2011 10:12 am

KÄINA, ESTONIA–This is a shout-out to our Wooster Geology colleagues currently working on the barren volcanic island of Iceland. We thought they might want a break from the bleak expanses of black basalt for a little color of wildlife from … Continue reading →

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Quarry time on Hiiumaa

Mark Wilson July 1, 2011 10:00 am

KÄINA, ESTONIA–Rachel, Nick and I worked today in our lonely quarry on Hiiumaa measuring and describing this section of Lower Silurian (Llandovery, Rhuddanian) rocks and fossils. This is the fieldwork for Rachel’s Senior Independent Study.

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A second new Senior Independent Study project begins in Estonia

Mark Wilson June 30, 2011 10:51 am

KÄINA, ESTONIA–Today we moved our geological investigations from Saaremaa to the island to the north: Hiiumaa. Our friend Olev Vinn of Tartu University then led us to an abandoned quarry in the Hilliste Formation (Lower Silurian). This made Rachel Matt … Continue reading →

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A few of the wildflowers on the alvars of Saaremaa Island, Estonia

Mark Wilson June 30, 2011 7:21 am

KURESSAARE, ESTONIA–We have gotten to know the western coastline of Saaremaa very well and would like to simply share some of the gorgeous flowers found there. All of these grow in alvars, which are environments on limestone bedrock with thin … Continue reading →

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