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.

Team Yorkshire explores Scarborough

Mark Wilson June 5, 2015 6:05 am

SCARBOROUGH, ENGLAND (June 5) — It was a spectacular day on the coast of northeastern England. When Paul Taylor arrived by train at 10:30 this morning, the clouds broke and the sunlight streamed through. Mae and Meredith explored Scarborough in … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A chaetetid demosponge from the Upper Carboniferous of southern Nevada

Mark Wilson June 5, 2015 12:23 am

I collected this lump of a specimen during my dissertation research in the Bird Spring Formation (Carboniferous-Permian) of southern Nevada. It was found in a richly-fossiliferous Upper Carboniferous (Moscovian) portion near Mountain Springs Pass, which is about 40 km southwest … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Team Yorkshire arrives for fieldwork

Mark Wilson June 4, 2015 6:04 am

SCARBOROUGH, ENGLAND (June 4) — Wooster Geology’s Team Yorkshire has now arrived for ten days of fieldwork in the Jurassic of the Cleveland Basin exposed in and around this delightful English seaside town. It was a tedious journey for Geology … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: Petrified conifer wood

Mark Wilson May 29, 2015 12:18 am

This is one of the most beautiful fossils in Wooster’s teaching collections. It is a polished section of petrified wood. It has vibrant colors and exquisite detail, as you’re about to see. Unfortunately any label that accompanied this specimen disappeared … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: A Silurian encrinite from southwestern Ohio

Mark Wilson May 22, 2015 12:51 am

The above rock was collected on our Sedimentology & Stratigraphy class field trip last month. It is an average piece of weathered Brassfield Formation (Early Silurian, Llandovery) from Oakes Quarry Park near Fairborn, Ohio (N 39.81472°, W 83.99471°). It is … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Wooster Geologists (and a Wooster Chemist) visit Brown’s Lake Bog

Mark Wilson May 21, 2015 7:07 pm

I was privileged today to visit Brown’s Lake Bog, a Nature Conservancy preserve, with Greg Wiles, Nick Wiesenberg, and Kim Carter (Chemistry ’16). Greg and Nick have been here many times with students and colleagues, including some epic sessions of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A ptilodictyine bryozoan from the Silurian of Ohio

Mark Wilson May 15, 2015 1:00 am

The fossil above was found by Luke Kosowatz (’17) on our Sedimentology & Stratigraphy class field trip last month. We were measuring and sampling the Brassfield Formation (Early Silurian, Llandovery) near Fairborn, Ohio, and Luke pulled this beauty out of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A Jurassic coral with beekite preservation from southern Israel

Mark Wilson May 8, 2015 12:42 am

This week’s fossil is again in honor of Annette Hilton (’17), now retired as my Sophomore Research Assistant this year. She has been assessing with great skill a large and diverse collection of scleractinian corals from the Matmor Formation in … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: How to make brilliant acetate peels, with a Jurassic coral example

Mark Wilson May 1, 2015 12:52 am

My retiring Sophomore Research student, Annette Hilton (’17), is excellent at making acetate peels. These peels, like the one above she made from a mysterious Callovian (Middle Jurassic) coral, show fine internal details of calcareous fossils and rocks. This is … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A twisted scleractinian coral from the Middle Jurassic of southern Israel

Mark Wilson April 24, 2015 12:52 am

Another exquisite little coral this week from the collection of Matmor Formation (Middle Jurassic, southern Israel) corals Annette Hilton (’17) and I are working through. We believe this is Epistreptophyllum Milaschewitsch, 1876. It is a solitary (although more on that … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment