Category Archives: Uncategorized

An intricate Silurian stromatoporoid reef on the island of Saaremaa, Estonia

mwilson June 27, 2011 1:39 pm

KURESSAARE, ESTONIA–Stromatoporoids are extinct calcareous sponges that were very common in shallow water environments of the Silurian. They are especially abundant in the middle Silurian of the Baltic Region. Today we visited a site called Katri Cliff where a reef … Continue reading →

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A new Senior Independent Study project begins in Estonia

mwilson June 26, 2011 2:16 pm

KURESSAARE, ESTONIA–It is always a joy to begin the fieldwork for an Independent Study project — or at least know what the fieldwork will be. This morning we visited the Soeginina Cliff locality on the Atla Peninsula of western Saaremaa … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: Tiny little oysters (Lower Paleocene of Mississippi)

mwilson June 26, 2011 1:45 am

This week’s fossils are by no means rare — last year Megan Innis and I picked up dozens of them at a muddy outcrop near Starkville, Mississippi, on our Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary expedition (click “Alabama” and “Mississippi” in the tags to … Continue reading →

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Wooster Geologists return to Estonia

mwilson June 25, 2011 2:40 pm

KURESSAARE, ESTONIA–Yesterday afternoon three Wooster geologists met in the Tallinn, Estonia, airport within an hour after flying from three different countries. (Thank you, travel agent Suzanne Easterling!) We rented a car and then drove through impressive rainstorms westwards to the … Continue reading →

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A geological and historical tour of the Polish Jura

mwilson June 23, 2011 3:44 pm

SOSNOWIEC, POLAND–A most memorable day traveling through part of the Polish Jura with Michał Zatoń and his delightful family of his wife Aneta and son Tomasz (4 and a half years old). The Polish Jura, also known as the Kraków-Częstochowa … Continue reading →

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A delightful day in the Jurassic of Polish Silesia

mwilson June 22, 2011 2:58 pm

SOSNOWIEC, POLAND–It could not have been a better day for field work: warm with a light, cooling breeze and plenty of leafy green shade. Our team consisted of me and three Polish scientists: Michał Zatoń and Wojciech Krawczyński (I work … Continue reading →

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Quality time with a Polish microscope

mwilson June 21, 2011 5:06 pm

SOSNOWIEC, POLAND–A day in the lab with my colleague Michał Zatoń at the University of Silesia. We sorted through two very different paleontological problems with a microscope and a lot of hand waving. The first task was to come up … Continue reading →

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Wooster Geology Majors Help with B-WISER

sjudge June 21, 2011 11:22 am

The College’s of Wooster’s B-WISER (Buckeye Women In Science, Engineering, and Research) program for 7th and 8th grade girls descended upon Scovel Hall last week for some fun activities in geology. In an afternoon session with the campers, we divided … Continue reading →

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Wooster Geologist in Poland

mwilson June 20, 2011 2:12 pm

SOSNOWIEC, POLAND–I arrived today in Poland to work for a few days with my friend and colleague Michał Zatoń of the University of Silesia. We are going to study together some of of our favorite fossils (microconchids and other sclerobionts) … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A chain coral (Silurian of Ohio)

mwilson June 19, 2011 1:58 am

For some reason the Fossil of the Week I’ve had the most comments about is the Ordovician honeycomb coral from Indiana. It has an unexpected polygonal symmetry reflected in many other geological materials like desiccation cracks and columnar basalt. So … Continue reading →

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