Tag Archives: Italy

Products of an angry giant

Mark Wilson June 4, 2013 3:59 pm

CATANIA, SICILY, ITALY–They may look like impressive sea stacks to you, but it turns out these are three huge stones thrown by the aggrieved and wounded cyclops Polyphemus at Odysseus as he escaped that infernal cave. Who knew? This morning … Continue reading →

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Pillow basalts for Dr. Pollock

Mark Wilson June 4, 2013 3:17 pm

CATANIA, SICILY, ITALY–These are Dr. Meagen Pollock’s favorite kind of rocks: pillow basalts. Above we have a spectacular example of pillow basalts exposed in cross section below a castle ruin in Aci Castello a few kilometers north of Catania. The … Continue reading →

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Exploring Mount Etna

Mark Wilson June 3, 2013 3:01 pm

CATANIA, SICILY, ITALY–The International Bryozoology Association conference field trip began with a day on the magnificent compound basaltic stratovolcano that virtually defines the eastern half of Sicily: Mount Etna. We did not get to climb all the way to the … Continue reading →

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A Wooster Geologist in Sicily

Mark Wilson June 2, 2013 9:13 am

CATANIA, SICILY, ITALY–This summer Wooster’s Team Italy consists of only me. Maybe in the future I’ll take students here for Independent Study projects depending on what I find. I’ve just arrived in the city of Catania on the eastern coast … Continue reading →

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The joy of thin-sections

Mark Wilson December 30, 2009 8:19 pm

WOOSTER, OHIO–Bitterly cold Ohio days are perfect for geological lab work, especially with thin-sections under a warm microscope accompanied by a music-filled iPod. The next best thing to fieldwork. A thin-section is a slice of polished rock glued to a … Continue reading →

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