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.

Using the iPad in museum work

Mark Wilson August 8, 2011 8:00 pm

COLUMBUS, OHIO–Earlier this summer my colleagues and I had blog posts describing how we use our iPads in geological fieldwork (with examples from the limestones of Estonia to the basalts of Iceland). Today I used my iPad2 during work in … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: barnacle borings (Middle Jurassic of Israel)

Mark Wilson August 7, 2011 1:49 am

Tiny little trace fossils this week in a Jurassic crinoid stem from the Matmor Formation of the Negev Desert. They are borings produced by barnacles, which are sedentary crustaceans more typically found in conical shells of their own making. These … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: An edrioasteroid (Upper Ordovician of Kentucky)

Mark Wilson July 24, 2011 1:17 am

This week’s fossil appeared previously in this blog when we discussed hiatus concretions and their fossil fauna. It is one of my favorites for both how we found it (see the entry linked above) and the way it introduced me … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: Pelican’s-foot snail (Pliocene of Cyprus)

Mark Wilson July 17, 2011 12:27 am

This week’s fossil was found on the same 1996 Keck Geology Expedition to Cyprus that produced the Thorny Oyster highlighted in January. Stephen Dornbos (’97) was there, but this fossil was not part of the Pliocene coral reef complex he … Continue reading →

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Exploring the Silurian at the Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet in Stockholm: Last day of work for the Wooster Geology Estonia Team

Mark Wilson July 12, 2011 11:34 am

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN–No paleontological expedition is complete until it includes time in the collections of a museum. No single sampling trip like ours can describe the full diversity of a fossil site, no matter how many days we spend scouring the … Continue reading →

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Wooster Geologists in Sweden

Mark Wilson July 11, 2011 11:23 am

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN–I had not realized how much water is in the city of Stockholm. Almost a third of the city’s area is water because the center is built on 14 islands connected by bridges and ferries. “The Venice of the … Continue reading →

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A Day in Tallinn, Estonia

Mark Wilson July 10, 2011 1:27 pm

TALLINN, ESTONIA–Like our Wooster Geology colleagues in Iceland, we also have a nearly-final day in a city. Tallinn is the capital of Estonia, the medieval town square of which is shown above. We started here briefly at the airport, and … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: Ancient shrimp burrows (Middle Jurassic of Israel)

Mark Wilson July 10, 2011 1:01 am

This week we have a trace fossil, the burrow Thalassinoides. It is represented by one of my favorite images, reproduced above, showing a very large Thalassinoides suevicus in the Zohar Formation (Middle Jurassic, Callovian) of Makhtesh Qatan in the Negev … Continue reading →

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Suur Strait (Moon Sound, Moonzund)

Mark Wilson July 9, 2011 12:38 pm

TALLINN, ESTONIA–The Wooster Geology team in Estonia successfully returned to the Estonian capital city of Tallinn today, which means we crossed by ferry the Suur Strait between the western Estonian islands (notably Muhu) and the Estonian mainland. This is an … Continue reading →

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A visit to Kaali Crater for our last day on Saaremaa

Mark Wilson July 8, 2011 9:59 am

KURESSAARE, ESTONIA–A dramatic geological site on our last Saaremaa day: the meteorite craters at Kaali. We hiked around the largest crater (shown above) and then visited one of the smaller subsidiary craters nearby (shown below). The main Kaali crater is … Continue reading →

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