Author Archives: Mark Wilson

About Mark Wilson

Mark Wilson is an emeritus Professor of Geology at The College of Wooster. He specializes in invertebrate paleontology, carbonate sedimentology, and stratigraphy. He also is an expert on pseudoscience, especially creationism.

Last stop in Europe: The Senckenberg Museum of Natural History

Mark Wilson August 18, 2010 1:33 pm

FRANKFURT, GERMANY–Isn’t that a great front yard for a Natural History Museum? Diplodocus longus strides by columnar basalt and a massive chunk of conglomerate. This is the Naturmuseum Senckenberg in downtown Frankfurt, about two blocks from my hotel. On my … Continue reading →

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Fossils on the Meuse-Argonne Battlefield

Mark Wilson August 16, 2010 10:21 am

VIENNE LE CHATEAU, FRANCE–To my delight, while exploring the Meuse-Argonne area this morning, I found an exposure of marly Cretaceous sediments very near where my Grandfather’s tank brigade assembled for an attack at dawn on October 4, 1918. The sediment … Continue reading →

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Battle of the Mines: Vauquois, 1915-1918

Mark Wilson August 16, 2010 8:16 am

VIENNE LE CHATEAU, FRANCE–The influence of geology on war is shockingly clear on the Butte de Vauquois (N 49° 12′ 20.20”, E 5° 4′ 11.42”). This large hill (290 meters in elevation) is an outlier of the chalky detritic sandstone … Continue reading →

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The military advantage of holding the Upper Cretaceous chalk highlands

Mark Wilson August 15, 2010 12:08 pm

VIENNE LE CHATEAU, FRANCE–There is one strong geological control of warfare in northern France: the high areas are often thick, resistant Upper Cretaceous chalk while the valleys and plains below are usually poorly-consolidated greensands and clays. We’ve already seen these … Continue reading →

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Wooster Geologist in France

Mark Wilson August 14, 2010 9:50 am

VIENNE LE CHATEAU, FRANCE–I’m on the last part of my European trip this summer. The International Bryozoology Association post-conference field trip ended in Frankfurt yesterday. I rented a car at the Frankfurt airport and drove southwest into northeastern France where … Continue reading →

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The Messel Fossil Pit: A world-class experience

Mark Wilson August 13, 2010 11:23 pm

FRANKFURT, GERMANY–Last year at this time I had the privilege of visiting the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale on an expedition led by my friend Matthew James of Sonoma State University in California. It was an extraordinary opportunity to visit one … Continue reading →

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Tunnels yet again — and a loess connection

Mark Wilson August 13, 2010 5:06 pm

OPPENHEIM, GERMANY–This jewel of a town, with its large cathedral, half-timbered buildings and narrow streets, share surprising geological connections with Vicksburg, Mississippi — a city visited by Wooster geologists earlier this summer. Both are river towns which profited in good … Continue reading →

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A rainy day in the Mainz Basin

Mark Wilson August 12, 2010 3:49 pm

OPPENHEIM, GERMANY–I want this termed Wilson’s Law: “The amount of mud encountered at an outcrop is inversely proportional to the quality of the fossils found.” Maybe it is my desert heritage, but I absolutely detest mud on my boots. Especially … Continue reading →

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Wooster Geologist on the Rhine

Mark Wilson August 11, 2010 3:43 pm

OPPENHEIM, GERMANY–Our International Bryozoology Association field trip started the day in the little town of Prüm looking at Devonian limestones and shales, and then we drove to Boppard where we boarded a Rhine River ferry for a trip upstream to … Continue reading →

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Geology and religion: le Grand Animal de Maastricht

Mark Wilson August 10, 2010 3:25 pm

MAASTRICHT, THE NETHERLANDS–Next month I am giving a talk on campus about evolution in a lecture series on “science and religion”. I was particularly intrigued, then, to hear a story about the famous mosasaur discovered in the Maastricht tunnels that … Continue reading →

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