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.

Estonia Geology Research Team in Place (More or Less)

mwilson June 30, 2009 10:55 pm

KOGUVA, MUHU ISLAND, ESTONIA–We are spending our first night together in a small model village (N58.59638°, E23.08559°) designed to show what farming life was like in 19th century Estonia. Our rooms have rough-hewn wooden walls, rope mouldings, and iron bedsteads. … Continue reading →

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Thoughts on Leaving Svalbard

mwilson June 30, 2009 4:21 am

I’m now in Tallinn, Estonia, awaiting the arrival of Bill Ausich (OSU Professor), Rob McConnell, and Palmer Shonk (intrepid Wooster Senior Independent Study students). Our fieldwork will begin tomorrow once the team is assembled with our Estonian host, Olev Vinn … Continue reading →

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Geology Along the Fjords of Svalbard

mwilson June 27, 2009 1:05 am

Today I took a day trip with about 25 other people on the small ship M.S. Polargirl in Isfjorden. The geology in view was fantastic, it didn’t rain, and the sun came out occasionally in the morning. I also got … Continue reading →

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A Bit of the Triassic in Svalbard

mwilson June 27, 2009 1:00 am

NEAR DIABASODDEN, SVALBARD–Yesterday’s field trip was a brief survey of three Triassic (Anisian to Carnian) siliciclastic units, with students concentrating on the third. From bottom to top they are the Botneheia Formation (a gray to black shale with numerous bits … Continue reading →

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Any activity which involves survival suits and rifles …

mwilson June 26, 2009 2:23 am

SVALBARD, NORWAY–A geological high adventure today when I joined a field trip of Norwegian faculty and international graduate students on a day trip to a Triassic section north of Longyearbyen. We met at the University of Norway research station (a … Continue reading →

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N78.20316°, E015.59476°

mwilson June 25, 2009 2:17 am

LONGYEARBYEN, SVALBARD, NORWAY–The sun makes a crazy circle in the sky. Polar bear warnings. Houses on stilts. Muck for soil. (“Don’t worry. You can only sink three feet.”) Russian coal miners. International scientists. Cruise ship tourists. Stunning vistas of rock, … Continue reading →

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A Great Geological Day in Norway

mwilson June 24, 2009 3:54 pm

OSLO, NORWAY–This Wooster geologist had an excellent time here in the capital city of Norway today. I met up with Hans Arne Nakrem, a Norwegian paleontologist with the Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, and we looked at specimens he … Continue reading →

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The Åland Islands

mwilson June 20, 2009 2:18 pm

There is an exquisite archipelago of thousands of  islands between Finland and Sweden.  I took a six-hour ferry ride this morning from Turku in southwestern Finland to Mariehamn, capital of the Åland Islands, where I am spending a day and … Continue reading →

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A Wooster Geologist in Helsinki

mwilson June 18, 2009 2:25 pm

I’m between geological field trips right now. I left Russia by train through Karelia to Helsinki, Finland. It was a remarkable trip through woods and villages, with the swampy environs of St. Petersburg giving way to higher and drier ground … Continue reading →

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Thoughts on Future Wooster Geology Research in Russia

mwilson June 17, 2009 1:56 pm

I was very impressed by the Ordovician rocks I saw in the Leningrad Region on this past trip.  I had seen parts of the Ordovician System in Estonia nearby, but not to this extent nor this particular facies.  My model … Continue reading →

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