Category Archives: Uncategorized

Geological fieldwork on the streets of Dublin

DUBLIN, IRELAND — What could be more Irish than a rainbow over Dublin? (I know better than to write of leprechauns and pots of gold.)  It certainly crowned the end of a delightful afternoon spent with my friend Tim Palmer … Continue reading

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A bivalve boring from the Upper Ordovician of southern Ohio

This week’s fossil is from close to home. In fact, it sit in my office. The above is a trace fossil named Petroxestes pera. It was produced on a carbonate hardground by a mytilacean bivalve known as Modiolopsis (shown below). … Continue reading

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Wooster Geologist in Ireland

DUBLIN, IRELAND — In a very quick transition from grading final exams in Wooster yesterday morning, I find myself now in downtown Dublin. I flew in last night to attend the 56th Annual Meeting of the Paleontological Association. I’ve been … Continue reading

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A horn coral from the Upper Ordovician of Indiana

This week’s fossil is a very common one from the Whitewater Formation (Richmondian, Upper Ordovician) exposed near Richmond, Indiana. It was collected, along with hundreds of other specimens, during one of many Invertebrate Paleontology field trips to an outcrop along … Continue reading

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Familiar Faces at AGU 2012

San Francisco, CA – The annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union is the largest earth science conference in the world. With more than 20,000 attendees and about 3000 posters per day, you’re bound to bump into someone you know. … Continue reading

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: Shark teeth! (Upper Cretaceous of Israel)

This week’s set of exquisite fossils is presented in honor of Andrew Retzler (’11) who has just had his Senior Independent Study thesis at Wooster published in the journal Cretaceous Research: “Chondrichthyans from the Menuha Formation (Late Cretaceous: Santonian–Early Campanian) … Continue reading

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Geology Heads to Melrose Elementary

WOOSTER, OHIO — A “Volcano Team” headed to Melrose Elementary this week for an afternoon of fun with Marge Forbush’s 4th grade class. It was our annual fall trip to her classroom, and our task was to discuss the various … Continue reading

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A gumdrop bryozoan (Middle Ordovician of eastern Iowa)

This simple, rounded fossil with tiny holes on its surface is the trepostome bryozoan Prasopora falesi (James, 1884) from the Middle Ordovician Galena Group of eastern Iowa. It was collected with dozens of others on an Independent Study field trip … Continue reading

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A crab from the Pleistocene of northern Australia

Isn’t this amazing preservation? This fossil crab, which we received as a donation a few years ago, is Macrophthalmus latreillei (Desmarest, 1822) from the Pleistocene of northern Australia. It is virtually identical to its modern counterpart of the same species, … Continue reading

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Wooster Geologists on Camera — Spotlight on Dendrochronology

WOOSTER, OHIO–Greg Wiles and members of his crack dendrochronology team from our tree-ring laboratory are being filmed today for a PBS program called “Our Ohio“. It is great fun watching the TV crew setting up their equipment, and our faculty, … Continue reading

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