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.

Shenyang, China

mwilson July 3, 2014 6:23 pm

SHENYANG, CHINA — My first post from astonishing China. I’ve been here about a day and a half now and am simply floored by all I’ve seen and experienced. I’ve seen a fair bit of the world, but no place … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Wooster Geologist en route to China

mwilson July 1, 2014 8:59 am

DETROIT AIRPORT, MICHIGAN — My long anticipated trip to China has started. I have a bit of a wait in Detroit before boarding a 14-hour flight to Beijing, followed by a connection on to Shenyang. I am visiting China by … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

Last day of work at the Natural History Museum, and some special visitors

mwilson June 25, 2014 4:14 pm

LONDON, ENGLAND — I know it is an acquired taste, and way too esoteric, but I think the above scanning electron micrograph is beautiful. This is an undescribed species of the cyclostome bryozoan Corynotrypa from the Upper Ordovician Bromide Formation … Continue reading →

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

Scanning at the Natural History Museum

mwilson June 24, 2014 4:56 pm

LONDON, ENGLAND — I know of no one better at the art of Scanning Electron Microscopy than Paul Taylor of the Department of Earth Sciences at the Natural History Museum in London. He is a master at producing superb images, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

A day’s work in the Natural History Museum, London

mwilson June 23, 2014 3:32 pm

LONDON, ENGLAND — This is one of my favorite places in the world. It is a Victorian cathedral of science: The Natural History Museum in London. Today I began three intense days of research with Paul Taylor in his paleontology … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Wooster Geologist in London at the British Museum

mwilson June 22, 2014 1:42 pm

LONDON, ENGLAND — I arrived late last night in London after a series of delays in my departure from Poland, so I was pleased that today was a Sunday so I could chill a bit before work with Paul Taylor … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A silicified rhynchonellid brachiopod from the Permian of West Texas

mwilson June 22, 2014 1:01 am

Sometimes fossils can be more useful when broken than whole. Above is a much-abused rhynchonellid brachiopod from the Road Canyon Formation (Middle Permian, Roadian, about 270 million years old) found in the Glass Mountains of southwestern Texas. It is part … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

A Nazi hiding hole in Middle Triassic rocks (Będzin, Poland)

mwilson June 20, 2014 4:27 pm

SOSNOWIEC, POLAND — On my last full day in Poland, Michał Zatoń and his family took me on a tour of the city they live in and where my hotel is located: Będzin. The history of this place is very long, … Continue reading →

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

Castles in Poland I expect, but a desert?

mwilson June 19, 2014 4:03 pm

SOSNOWIEC, POLAND — Today my colleague Michał Zatoń took me and his family (wife Aneta and son Tomasz) on a tour of the Polish Jura, an upland with spectacular exposures of Jurassic rocks and the castles who love them. Above is … Continue reading →

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

The Gleiwitz Incident completes the grim prologue

mwilson June 18, 2014 11:44 pm

(It is the nature of this blog that our most recent entries are at the top, making it a bit awkward to read what is here the third part of a trilogy of posts today. You might want to start … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment