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.

Wooster Geologists return to the Mojave Desert

Mark Wilson March 13, 2011 10:59 pm

ZZYZX, CALIFORNIA–All four geology faculty members, our administrative coordinator Patrice Reeder, Jesse Wiles and eight students have safely arrived at the Desert Studies Center in the delightful Zzyzx.  We spent a few hours exploring the Jurassic sandstones exposed in the … Continue reading →

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Wooster Geologist safe in Japan

Mark Wilson March 13, 2011 3:20 am

HORONOBE-CHO, HOKKAIDO, JAPAN–I am relieved to report that my friend and fellow Wooster Geology classmate Kaz Aoki and his family survived last week’s devastating earthquake and tsunami. Kaz, his wife Sachiko, their four daughters and their new son-in-law all are … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A sweet local scallop (Lower Carboniferous of Wooster)

Mark Wilson March 13, 2011 1:56 am

The delicious scallop has a long, long history. Wooster’s variety, known as Aviculopecten subcardiformis, is about 345 million years old. The beauty above was found in the Logan Formation, a conglomeratic sandstone that underlies much of the city, including the … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A tiny sclerobiont community (Middle Jurassic of Poland)

Mark Wilson March 6, 2011 1:15 am

This delightful little community is the subject of a current research project that developed from Independent Study fieldwork in 2006. Elyse Zavar (’07) and I traveled to southern Poland to work on Jurassic fossils associated with a carbonate hardground at … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: The ‘osses ‘ed clam (Upper Jurassic of southwestern England)

Mark Wilson February 27, 2011 1:16 am

Katherine Nicholson Marenco (’03) and I did delightful fieldwork on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England, during the summer of 2002. We collected fossils from the famous Portland Limestone (Upper Jurassic) in a series of working quarries. Katherine completed … Continue reading →

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Postcard from Wooster, Ohio

Mark Wilson February 22, 2011 10:01 am

On such a winter’s day.

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A honeycomb coral (Upper Ordovician of southern Indiana)

Mark Wilson February 20, 2011 1:22 am

Polygons are common in nature, whether in two dimensions as desiccation cracks or in three dimensions as with columnar basalt. They result from “closely-packed” disks or tubes. The honeycomb coral (Favosites Lamarck 1816) is one of the best fossil examples … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A brittle star trace fossil from the Jurassic of Utah

Mark Wilson February 13, 2011 1:24 am

This week we have a trace fossil that looks almost exactly like the animal that made it. A trace fossil is evidence of organism activity recorded in the rock record. The photograph above shows one of my favorite specimens: Asteriacites … Continue reading →

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Happy Birthday, Charles Darwin! An Occasion to Celebrate the Teaching of Evolution

Mark Wilson February 12, 2011 11:56 am

It is now a tradition among scientists to celebrate the birthday of the great English naturalist Charles Darwin.  He was born on February 12, 1809 — the very same day Abraham Lincoln entered the world.  (I have images of both … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A chewed-up leaf (Upper Cretaceous of Kansas)

Mark Wilson February 6, 2011 1:17 am

This week’s fossil is a departure from our usual set of marine invertebrate animals. Above is a leaf of Viburnum lesquereuxii from the Dakota Formation of Ellsworth County, Kansas. The rocks enclosing it are from the Upper Cretaceous Cenomanian Stage, … Continue reading →

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