Monthly Archives: April 2014

Return to the Jurassic Paradise of Makhtesh Gadol

Mark Wilson April 15, 2014 11:27 am

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–This week I’m back in Makhtesh Gadol, that great bowl of Jurassic delights. This is the most extensive exposure of marine Jurassic rocks in southern Israel, and it is highly fossiliferous. This is just a brief report. I’ll … Continue reading →

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Holiday in Mitzpe Ramon

Mark Wilson April 14, 2014 8:57 am

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–Pesach (Passover) begins this evening at sundown, but essentially the holiday has started today as people prepare for this evening’s family seders. The town has gone very quiet as stores have closed and traffic dropped to almost no … Continue reading →

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In the Valley of Elah

Mark Wilson April 13, 2014 2:55 pm

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–Simon Schama begins his magnificent series The Story of the Jews at an archaeological site near the Valley of Elah called Khirbet Qeiyafa. He said that the first physical evidence for the existence of the Jewish people was … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: An unusual scleractinian coral from the Upper Cretaceous of Israel

Mark Wilson April 13, 2014 1:17 am

Originally this was going to be a mystery fossil for a crowd-sourced identification while I’m here in Israel doing fieldwork, but through the wonders of the internet I finally found a match for the strange fossil above: it is the … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s X-ray Lab Hosts Expanding Your Horizons

sjudge April 12, 2014 2:11 pm

WOOSTER, OH — What a beautiful Saturday for science!!  Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) hit Scovel Hall again this year, and area middle school girls were able to select “Minerals in My Jewelry” as one of the fun science sessions held … Continue reading →

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Seeing the archaeological site of Shivta through a geologist’s eyes

Mark Wilson April 12, 2014 12:30 pm

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–The tradition we’ve built over the years on our Israel expeditions is to travel to interesting places on Saturdays to take a break from work. Yes, it appears geologists never really stop geologizing, but then that’s not really … Continue reading →

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Cretaceous fieldwork around Mitzpe Ramon

Mark Wilson April 11, 2014 12:32 pm

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–Today Yoav and I worked on the outskirts of his hometown. This was a field trip that began in his garden and then we wandered into the hills behind his house, eventually circling this little city to return … Continue reading →

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So this is where capers come from

Mark Wilson April 11, 2014 3:44 am

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–Early Wednesday morning Yoav had a special mission to perform before we began our fieldwork. He had been asked by a botanist to get a sample of a new species of plant endemic to Makhtesh Ramon. The botanist … Continue reading →

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Field trip to the lesser known makhteshim at Har ‘Arif

Mark Wilson April 10, 2014 12:57 pm

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–We’ve talked a lot about makhteshim in this blog, with so much of our geological work located in Hamakhtesh Hagadol and Makhtesh Ramon. A makhtesh is essentially a breached anticline, usually with a single drainage running from it. … Continue reading →

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A mission in the Cretaceous of southern Israel

Mark Wilson April 9, 2014 1:50 pm

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–Today Yoav and I set out to solve a mapping dilemma concerning the boundaries of the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian) En Yorqe’am Formation in the Negev and, eventually, the Judean Desert to the north. It involved a bumpy ride … Continue reading →

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