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.

Plunging into Lake Manix

mwilson March 15, 2011 11:11 pm

ZZYZX, CALIFORNIA–East of Barstow and west of Afton Canyon was a very large pluvial lake during the Pleistocene. This Lake Manix was hundreds of feet deep, and its catastrophic drainage through Afton Canyon about 185,000 years ago must have been … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

A morning with the Barstow Formation

mwilson March 15, 2011 10:48 pm

ZZYZX, CALIFORNIA–It is hard to believe that the Mojave region once had vast lakes, erupting volcanoes and a diverse mammalian fauna including camels and horses. The most important record of this time is the Barstow Formation (Miocene — about 15 … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Death Valley Day

mwilson March 14, 2011 11:01 pm

ZZYZX, CALIFORNIA–Our Wooster geological crew awoke to a spectacular sunrise over the Soda Lake playa this morning. We drove north from Zzyzx through Baker and Shoshone into Death Valley by way of Jubilee Pass. The weather could not be better … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Wooster Geologists return to the Mojave Desert

mwilson 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 →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Wooster Geologist safe in Japan

mwilson 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 →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

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

mwilson 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 →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

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

mwilson 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 →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

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

mwilson 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 →

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

Postcard from Wooster, Ohio

mwilson February 22, 2011 10:01 am

On such a winter’s day.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

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

mwilson 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 →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 61 Comments