Author Archives: mwilson

About mwilson

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.

The good news about fieldwork in southern Israel is that we don’t worry about snakes. The bad news …

mwilson June 9, 2010 11:51 am
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A desert bird in the hand

mwilson June 9, 2010 11:49 am

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL — While driving to our outcrops today north of Makhtesh Ramon, we came across four researchers catching and tagging small birds in the early morning.  They are from the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel … Continue reading →

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Southern Exposure

mwilson June 8, 2010 9:56 am

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL — Could the contrast be any more dramatic than when comparing the Wooster Alaska expedition images on this blog to those here from the Wooster Israel team?  Alaska looks so very green, cold and wet from here! … Continue reading →

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A typical field geology day in the Negev

mwilson June 7, 2010 9:40 am

Exploring a portion of the Menuha Formation (Upper Cretaceous) in Wadi Aqrav (“Scorpion Wash” which we may rename “Tick Wash”). Coordinates: N30° 33.712′, E34° 38.844′.

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A friendly gecko on a hot and long field day

mwilson June 6, 2010 11:36 pm

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL — The Wooster Israel team worked hard today at the western end of the Makhtesh Ramon geological structure, about 20 km west of Mitzpe Ramon.  Yoav Avni of the Geological Survey led us on a very useful … Continue reading →

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Geological and Archaeological Park at Timna

mwilson June 5, 2010 12:31 pm

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL — Our last stop on our shabbat trip today was at Timna Park north of Eilat, Israel.  Here we saw a combination of geology and archaeology.  The porous sandstones exposed in the cliffs have been mineralized along … Continue reading →

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Boundaries

mwilson June 5, 2010 12:24 pm

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL — Wooster geologists this summer have been working hard with boundaries of the geological kind: horizontal surfaces in rock sequences that mark dramatic events in Earth history.  Our favorite has been the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, but we are … Continue reading →

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Visiting the modern version of our ancient world

mwilson June 5, 2010 12:19 pm

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL — Every shabbat in Israel (Friday sundown to Saturday sundown) we cease geological work and take a break.  Our first shabbat on this trip started with a wonderful dinner at the home of our hosts Yoav and … Continue reading →

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Wooster Geologists in the Negev

mwilson June 4, 2010 12:23 pm

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL — Andrew Retzler, Micah Risacher and I arrived in southern Israel yesterday evening after a 24-hour journey from Wooster.  (My boots still have Mississippi mud on them, by the way.)  Our primary mission on this trip is … Continue reading →

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The Battle of Vicksburg and Geology

mwilson May 29, 2010 9:26 pm

VICKSBURG, MISSISSIPPI — The Wooster Geologists southern USA team spent the better part of the day at the site of the Civil War Battle of Vicksburg (May 18-July 4, 1863).  As is the case with virtually every battle, the local … Continue reading →

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