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.

Another dusty day of fieldwork in the makhtesh

mwilson March 13, 2012 3:21 pm

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–It was a little warmer today in Makhtesh Gadol, but the sun was still obscured by the dust blown across the southern Mediterranean from the Sahara Desert. I may have an innate tolerance for dust from my childhood … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

A dusty but successful start on field work in southern Israel

mwilson March 12, 2012 3:09 pm

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–Melissa Torma, our friend Yoav Avni (Geological Survey of Israel), and I just ended a productive first day in the field. The two of them are shown above in classic paleontological poses. They are collecting fossils from Subunit … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Wooster Geologists in southern Israel for Spring Break fieldwork

mwilson March 11, 2012 3:52 pm

It’s a low-light, iPad photo, but at least it shows Wooster geology junior Melissa Torma enjoying a fine meal in the Hotel Ramon of Mitzpe Ramon, deep in the Negev of Israel. We arrived here this afternoon after a 22-hour … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: An ichthyosaur vertebra (Middle-Late Jurassic of Wyoming)

mwilson March 11, 2012 1:50 am

It’s only half a bone, but the above is one of my favorite fossils. This is a vertebra of an ichthyosaur, identifiable by its figure-8 cross-section. It is from the Sundance Formation (Middle-Late Jurassic) of Natrona County, Wyoming … and … Continue reading →

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

Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: an encrusted nautiloid (Upper Ordovician of Kentucky)

mwilson March 4, 2012 11:33 am

Two fossils this week in our series. The large segmented cone is a bisected nautiloid cephalopod from the Upper Ordovician of northern Kentucky. The original shell (made of the mineral aragonite) has been dissolved away, leaving the sediment that filled … Continue reading →

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

A Wooster Geologist … on TV?

mwilson March 3, 2012 12:44 pm

The irony of me appearing for brief moments as a commentator on last night’s episode of Ancient Aliens (“Aliens and Mega-Disasters“) is that I teach a course at Wooster entitled “Nonsense! And Why It’s So Popular“. One of our favorite … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A holey brachiopod (Lower Cretaceous of southeastern Spain)

mwilson February 26, 2012 1:10 am

This striking and unusual brachiopod is Pygites diphyoides (d’Orbigny, 1847) from Hauterivian (Lower Cretaceous) of Cehegin, Murcia, Spain. Wooster acquired it through a recent generous exchange of brachiopods with Mr. Clive Champion in England. I had heard about this brachiopod … Continue reading →

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

Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: star sand (Recent of southern Japan)

mwilson February 19, 2012 1:37 am

Yes, that “Recent” in the title was a clue that these are not actually fossils, but the little beauties fit the spirit of our series. This is sand from an unknown island beach in southern Japan. The spotted star-shaped grains … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Geology and art meet with a ceramic creation from the Cretaceous extinctions

mwilson February 16, 2012 7:49 pm

In August 2010 I had a fantastic geologic field trip to the tunnels of Geulhemmmerberg, The Netherlands, to see an unusual exposure of the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. There I collected a fist-sized sample of the famous boundary clay, which is found … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: An asteroid trace fossil from the Devonian of northeastern Ohio

mwilson February 12, 2012 1:31 am

It is pretty obvious what made this excellent trace fossil: an asteroid echinoderm. (The term “asteroid” sounds odd here, but it is the technical term for a typical sea star.) The above is Asteriacites stelliformis Osgood, 1970, from the Chagrin … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment