Category Archives: Uncategorized

A day of talks and scientific camaraderie at the 2014 Larwood Meeting

Mark Wilson June 12, 2014 4:47 pm

SOPOT, POLAND — Our first day of the Larwood Meeting was much fun, especially after I unloaded my presentation in the morning and could relax. We are gathering on the beautiful campus of the Instytut Oceanologii (one building pictured above), … Continue reading →

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An evening of good food, games and talk deep in an Eastern European forest

Mark Wilson June 12, 2014 4:07 pm

SOPOT, POLAND — Our surprise dinner this evening was a Polish barbecue in the forest outside Sopot. I am impressed with how much forested land has been preserved around the three connected cities of Gdansk, Sopot and Gydnia. With a … Continue reading →

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Wooster Geologist on the Baltic Coast

Mark Wilson June 11, 2014 11:19 am

SOPOT, POLAND — Yes, that’s a view from my hotel window. I’ve suddenly found myself in an old resort town on the Baltic coast of Poland near the cities of Gdansk and Gydnia. Another one of those astonishing geographic transformations … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A fragment of an asteroid (the sea star kind) from the Upper Cretaceous of Israel

Mark Wilson June 8, 2014 1:07 am

This is not an important fossil — there is not enough preserved to put a name on it beyond Family Goniasteridae Forbes, 1841 (thanks, Dan Blake) — but it was a fun one to find. It also photographs well. This is … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: My favorite part of a crinoid (Middle Jurassic of Israel)

Mark Wilson June 1, 2014 1:14 am

In April of this year I completed my 11th trip to southern Israel for fieldwork in the Mesozoic. My heart warmed every time I saw these robust plates of the crinoid Apiocrinities negevensis, which was reviewed in a previous blog … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A fly in amber

Mark Wilson May 25, 2014 1:24 am

A classic fossil this week. I wish I could say more about it. The specimen lost its label years ago, so I don’t know where it is from or its age (although a good guess is Neogene). I also can’t … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: “Star-rock” crinoids from the Middle Jurassic of Utah

Mark Wilson May 18, 2014 1:53 am

This little slab of crinoid stem fragments comes from the Co-op Creek Member of the Carmel Formation (Middle Jurassic) exposed in northwestern Kane County, Utah. I collected it with my friend Carol Tang as we explored a beautiful encrinite (a … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: One sick crinoid from the Middle Jurassic of Israel

Mark Wilson May 11, 2014 1:01 am

My first thought on seeing this distorted fossil was how much it evoked one of those Palaeolithic “Venus figurines“. It is certainly difficult to deduce that this is actually a crinoid column (or stem). It was found during my last … Continue reading →

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Last work of Team Israel, Matmor Division

Mark Wilson May 5, 2014 6:11 pm

WOOSTER, OHIO–Steph Bosch (’14) and Lizzie Reinthal (’14) volunteered to examine the Matmor Formation fossils I collected last month in Israel. Each fossil, most of which are crinoid ossicles, must be scanned under a microscope for tiny encrusters (especially bryozoans), … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A scolecodont from the Upper Ordovician of the Cincinnati region

Mark Wilson May 4, 2014 1:15 am

This tiny but fearsome jaw is known as a scolecodont, and they are fairly common in the Cincinnatian rocks (Upper Ordovician) in the tri-state area of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. The label on this particular specimen does not indicate the … Continue reading →

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