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.

Wooster’s Team Utah 2020: Final Day in the Field (Alas)

mwilson March 12, 2020 3:12 am

Hurricane, Utah — Last night we made the sad decision to leave for home as soon as possible because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The College has mandated no more in-person teaching, and we don’t want our flight plans to be … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Team Utah 2020: On a Jurassic Tidal Flat

mwilson March 11, 2020 3:11 am

Hurricane, Utah — Our second day was devoted to measuring, describing and sampling Will’s stromatolite-bearing rocks in the lower half of the Co-op Creek Limestone Member of the Carmel Formation. This locality is only a couple of hundred meters west … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Team Utah 2020: Field Geology in a Time of Plague

mwilson March 10, 2020 3:10 am

Hurricane, Utah — This is Team Utah 2020 at Gunlock Reservoir in the far southwestern corner of beautiful Utah. Starting on the left is Juda Culp (’21), Will Santella (’21), Dr. Shelley Judge (our ace structural geologist and tectonicist), and … Continue reading →

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New paper: “Chemical composition of carbonate hardground cements as reconstructive tools for Phanerozoic pore fluids”

mwilson February 21, 2020 4:07 pm

My friend Paul Taylor and I are junior authors on a paper that has just appeared in the journal Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (“G-Cubed”) as an in press accepted manuscript. We’ll be the first to admit that it is a bit … Continue reading →

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A course in nonsense

mwilson December 6, 2019 12:09 pm

For many years I’ve offered a First-Year Seminar at Wooster entitled, “Nonsense! (And Why It’s So Popular)”. Today we finished the latest version of the course. The semester went so well I want to celebrate. The class of first-year students … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s First Paleoecology Course

mwilson December 5, 2019 11:44 am

This semester we introduced a new course into the Earth Sciences curriculum: Paleoecology (ESCI 215). It is the first new course I’ve developed in many years. It is designed to introduce students to ecological concepts and principles using the fossil … Continue reading →

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New paper: Early Silurian recovery of Baltica crinoids following the end-Ordovician extinctions (Llandovery, Estonia)

mwilson November 16, 2019 6:27 pm

It has been an absolute delight to work with the crinoid master Bill Ausich of The Ohio State University. He is not only one of the world’s top paleontologists, he’s a great guy. Bill taught me all I know about … Continue reading →

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A new paper on a cryptic crustoid graptolite from the Middle Ordovician of Estonia

mwilson October 7, 2019 4:04 pm

I have long enjoyed exploring the Ordovician and Silurian rocks of Estonia with my Estonian friend Olev Vinn. We have done a lot of work together, and Estonia continues to provide fascinating fossils for our studies. Our circle of paleontologists … Continue reading →

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Wooster Geologists at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America

mwilson September 29, 2019 1:54 pm

Phoenix, Arizona — It was a small group of Wooster Geologists at the annual meeting of the GSA held in Phoenix last week. The very early date (about a month earlier than usual) and the consequently earlier abstract deadline reduced … Continue reading →

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Thirty-third annual report of the Wooster Earth Sciences Department now available

mwilson September 9, 2019 11:16 am

Thank you to Patrice Reeder for her epic work on this report, from its design and art to content. Click away and enjoy!

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