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.

The Diatom Lake Adventure: Ice ages, hotel titrations, and the Midwest

Mark Wilson June 14, 2022 8:35 am

Editor’s note: Rising Wooster senior Richard Torres (’23) had a spectacular opportunity this summer (May 31 – June 12, 2022) to participate in a National Science Foundation-funded research trip with Dr. Tom Lowell (on the right) and his team from … Continue reading →

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Old dogs, old tricks: A very pleasant day of paleontology in the Lower Carboniferous of northeastern Ohio

Mark Wilson June 8, 2022 5:36 pm

The weather was perfect today in verdant northeastern Ohio. Bill Ausich (retired paleontologist from The Ohio State University), Nigel Brush (retired geologist/archaeologist from Ashland University), and I (not retired!) have started a project examining the crinoids and associated fossils of … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Team Utah 2022 Fieldwork

Mark Wilson May 29, 2022 5:29 am

This is the index page for Wooster’s Team Utah 2022 expedition (May 20-29, 2022). The primary goal of this fieldwork was to provide data and samples for the Independent Study theses of Lucie Fiala (left) and Shipei (Vicky) Wang (right). … Continue reading →

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Wooster Geologists Team Jurassic Utah dips down into the Triassic for its last field day

Mark Wilson May 28, 2022 5:28 am

Today the Wooster Geologists of Team Jurassic Utah visited Early Triassic rocks near Hurricane, Utah (N 37.041054°, W 113.273450°). These are rocks of the Virgin Limestone Member of the Moenkopi Formation. I wanted to show the students the abundant brachiopod … Continue reading →

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A culture and nature day for Team Jurassic Utah 2022

Mark Wilson May 27, 2022 5:27 am

Our field work is now done, so we had a day of cultural and natural sites. Our morning started with a visit to the Visitor’s Center at the LDS Temple in St. George. There the students learned at least one … Continue reading →

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Jackson Peak section: Another gnatty adventure

Mark Wilson May 26, 2022 5:26 am

This morning the Wooster Geologists visited the westernmost exposure of the lower Carmel Formation at Nielson’s (1990) Jackson Peak section. Nick and Vicky are shown above on the road towards the conical Jackson Peak in the background. The site was … Continue reading →

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Up the steep slopes for a trace fossil reward in Dammeron Valley

Mark Wilson May 25, 2022 5:25 am

Today Team Utah 2022 climbed the outcrops in Dammeron Valley, north of St. George, to collect trace fossils from the Co-op Creek Limestone Member of the Carmel Formation (Middle Jurassic). It was a bit of a slog up the rubbly … Continue reading →

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Wooster geologists serve their time in Buggy Gulch

Mark Wilson May 24, 2022 5:24 am

Many veterans of the Wooster Geology expeditions to southwestern Utah will remember the insatiable, abundant, nearly overwhelming biting gnats that occasionally proliferated during our fieldwork. We’ve suffered them each day, but this was the worst experience thus far, mainly because … Continue reading →

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Back to the Eagle Mountain Ranch and its magnificent exposures

Mark Wilson May 23, 2022 5:23 am

One of my favorite Jurassic outcrops in all the world is found on the Eagle Mountain Ranch north of Gunlock, Utah (locality C/W-142; EMR). It has an exposure of the Carmel Formation with the perfect orientation to produce fossils weathered … Continue reading →

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Second field day in SW Utah Jurassic: Wooster geologists begin their projects

Mark Wilson May 22, 2022 5:22 am

During another beautiful day in southwestern Utah, Team Utah 2022 began to collect field data and specimens. We started in Manganese Wash with Lucie’s project, which involves the stratigraphy and paleoenvironments associated with the transition from the lower Co-Op Creek … Continue reading →

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