Category Archives: Uncategorized

Wooster/OSU geologists move to another beautiful island with excess vowels: Hiiumaa

KÄINA, ESTONIA–The combined Wooster and Ohio State geology team left Saaremaa Island this morning and traveled to Hiiumaa Island to the north in our search for more Silurian outcrops and their associated fossils. We drove from Kuressaare to Triigi on … Continue reading

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A new Independent Study project is born: The Soeginina Beds at Kübassaare

KURESSAARE, ESTONIA–Wooster student Richa Ekka now has her Independent Study project. This is a big moment for a Wooster student: choosing the iconic capstone experience to complete the curriculum. Geologists always have delightful choices — so many possible topics and … Continue reading

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From east to west across Saaremaa Island’s Silurian

KURESSAARE, ESTONIA–The Wooster/OSU Estonia team continued to explore the Silurian section on Saaremaa Island today. It was our last day with our friend Olev Vinn, and he showed us the only remaining Silurian outcrop here I have not seen: Kübassaare … Continue reading

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: fusulinids (Upper Carboniferous of Kansas)

They look like little footballs, at least the American variety of football. Fusulinids (the name indicating the fusiform shape) are about the size and shape of wheat grains. They were marine protists (single-celled eucaryotes) that lived from the late Early … Continue reading

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Crinoid hunting in ancient Baltica

KURESSAARE, ESTONIA–Bill Ausich (Ohio State University) and I have a grant from the National Geographic Society to study the “origination and evolution of Middle Paleozoic crinoids on the Baltica paleocontinent“. Bill is the prime mover behind this project as one … Continue reading

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Silurian limestone under our feet

KURESSAARE, ESTONIA–The 2012 Wooster Estonia expedition had its first official time in the field this afternoon. Jonah, Richa and I traveled the short distance from Kuressaare to the historical Sõrve peninsula in the extreme southwest of Saaremaa. There we explored … Continue reading

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Wooster Geologists return to Estonia

KURESSAARE, ESTONIA–It took longer than we expected, but three Wooster geologists and four colleagues from Ohio State University are finally on the island of Saaremaa and ready for our fieldwork in the Silurian limestones along the shores here and on … Continue reading

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: Wiggly little foraminiferans from the Middle Jurassic of southern England

These shell fragments are of the oyster Praeexogyra hebridica var. elongata, and I picked them up long ago from a remarkable unit made almost entirely of them. It is the Elongata Bed at the base of the Frome Clay (Middle … Continue reading

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A mastodon tusk (Late Pleistocene of Holmes County, Ohio)

This long and weathered tusk sits in a display case outside my office. It is from the American Mastodon (Mammut americanum) and was found many decades ago in Holmes County, just south of Wooster. A tooth found with it was … Continue reading

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A day in the Wasatch Mountains

Ephraim, Utah-[Guest blogger Tricia Hall] After a couple of productive days measuring deformation features and joints, Dr. Judge and I took a day for a fun drive up into the Wasatch Mountains and Plateau. The scenery was much different from … Continue reading

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