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.

Middle Cambrian stromatolites high in the Canadian Rockies

mwilson August 9, 2009 11:23 pm

FIELD, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA–Our study group was fortunate to meet Whitey Hagadorn (Amherst College and Denver Museum of Natural History) and Sally Walker (University of Georgia) for a hike to an exposure of stromatolites in the Pika Formation (Middle Cambrian) … Continue reading →

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Mt. Stephen Trilobite Beds (Middle Cambrian)

mwilson August 8, 2009 9:37 am

FIELD, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA–After a very steep and long climb, our little field party visited another restricted quarry of famous Middle Cambrian fossils: the Mt. Stephens Trilobite Beds. Charles Walcott also collected from this site when he was working on … Continue reading →

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The wondrous Burgess Shale

mwilson August 7, 2009 9:57 am

FIELD, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA–I stepped on Paleontological Holy Ground when I visited the Burgess Shale earlier this week. It is often cited as the most important fossil locality ever. I felt the historical as well as the scientific vibrations in … Continue reading →

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The Walcott Quarry of the Burgess Shale on a beautiful day

mwilson August 6, 2009 9:48 am

FIELD, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA–We have a small group of seven people for this expedition organized by Matthew James of Sonoma State University in California. Everyone is from California except me (although I was invited through my California roots). Our guide … Continue reading →

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Wooster geologist at the Burgess Shale

mwilson August 6, 2009 12:36 am

FIELD, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA–I’ve been waiting to write those words! More later when I get better wireless access. The summary: my colleagues and I successfully made the long hike to the Walcott Quarry of the famous Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale … Continue reading →

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Professor Greg Wiles in the news and a new book

mwilson July 24, 2009 10:30 am

Earlier this summer the Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom ran a photo essay about scientists working hard to sort out climate change questions. One of the people featured is Wooster professor of geology Greg Wiles in a classic photo … Continue reading →

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Estonia Geology Team heads for home

mwilson July 11, 2009 4:16 am

TALLINN, ESTONIA–It is always a good sign for a geologist when you leave with twice as many bags as when you arrived. There is a careful shuffle to make certain the rocks we are taking home are arranged so that … Continue reading →

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Short summer field movies

mwilson July 10, 2009 3:52 pm

TALLINN, ESTONIA–On my last evening in Estonia this year I finally had time to figure out how to post some of the short video clips I’ve taken over the past several weeks. The Iceland group pioneered the concept on this … Continue reading →

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The wonder of natural history museums

mwilson July 9, 2009 10:52 am

TALLINN, ESTONIA–Scientific museums preserve specimens and information from generations of researchers, collectors and students. The interiors of a typical paleontological museum contains windowless rooms filled almost to the ceiling with cabinets, each with dozens of drawers containing carefully labeled and … Continue reading →

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A full geological circle

mwilson July 8, 2009 9:23 am

The Wooster Geology Estonia team is now safely in Tallinn preparing for our visit to the paleontological collections in the university museum tomorrow. For me a private joy is that our hotel building is made of Ordovician limestone, the very … Continue reading →

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