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.

A surprising bit of Permian in central Sicily

Mark Wilson June 7, 2013 11:55 pm

MARSALA, SICILY, ITALY–This morning the pre-conference field trip of the International Bryozoology Association headed into the mountains of central Sicily. The roads were steep and windy, as one would imagine, and the views of mountainsides, villages and fields spectacular. We … Continue reading →

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Pliocene marls white as snow in southern Sicily

Mark Wilson June 6, 2013 11:55 pm

SCIACCA, SICILY, ITALY–Our last stop of the day on this International Bryozoology Association pre-conference field trip was to a massive outcrop of foraminiferan-rich marls known as the Trubi. A view of the cliffs with the sun setting behind them is … Continue reading →

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A cultural day in southern Sicily

Mark Wilson June 6, 2013 11:01 pm

SCIACCA, SICILY, ITALY–Most major conference geological field trips have a portion devoted to the culture and history of the region being explored. You can imagine the delights of this nature possible on a Mediterranean island. Today we started with the … Continue reading →

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A familiar hydrozoan with a beautiful name

Mark Wilson June 6, 2013 6:57 pm

SCIACCA, SICILY, ITALY–Far too late today for more than a short post. For the first time I met in real life an animal I speak about in my Invertebrate Paleontology course: the colonial hydrozoan Velella velella. We found thousands of … Continue reading →

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A Sicilian rocky coast

Mark Wilson June 5, 2013 11:55 pm

NOTO, SICILY, ITALY–Our last stop of the day on this International Bryozoology Association field trip was on the southeastern coast of Sicily just north of Syracuse at Scala Greca. There are several very small bays here which have been used … Continue reading →

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A shelly bonanza from the Pleistocene of Sicily

Mark Wilson June 5, 2013 11:45 pm

NOTO, SICILY, ITALY–Our second stop of the day on this International Bryozoology Association field trip was in an unimpressive ditch (above) near Megara. But, of course, there is paleontological gold here: an assemblage of extremely well-preserved marine fossils. Colleague Andrej … Continue reading →

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Spectacular shrimp burrows from the Miocene of Sicily

Mark Wilson June 5, 2013 10:14 pm

NOTO, SICILY, ITALY–The first stop on our International Bryozoology Association field trip today was a newly-opened quarry near Cugni di Rio in the dry southeastern countryside of Sicily, a view of which is above. New quarries are always interesting to … Continue reading →

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Sicilian fossils at last!

Mark Wilson June 4, 2013 4:14 pm

CATANIA, SICILY, ITALY–After lunch our International Bryozoology Association field trip actually collected fossil bryozoans. We visited a quarry exposure of Lower Pleistocene cemented marls rich in the bryozoan Celleporaria palmata (Michelin), along with many other species. These were apparently from … Continue reading →

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Products of an angry giant

Mark Wilson June 4, 2013 3:59 pm

CATANIA, SICILY, ITALY–They may look like impressive sea stacks to you, but it turns out these are three huge stones thrown by the aggrieved and wounded cyclops Polyphemus at Odysseus as he escaped that infernal cave. Who knew? This morning … Continue reading →

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Pillow basalts for Dr. Pollock

Mark Wilson June 4, 2013 3:17 pm

CATANIA, SICILY, ITALY–These are Dr. Meagen Pollock’s favorite kind of rocks: pillow basalts. Above we have a spectacular example of pillow basalts exposed in cross section below a castle ruin in Aci Castello a few kilometers north of Catania. The … Continue reading →

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