Tag Archives: fossils

What are the chances?

Mark Wilson July 12, 2012 12:42 pm

KÄINA, ESTONIA–Today the Wooster/OSU Estonia geology team had a day of sightseeing on Hiiumaa. (More on this later.) One of our stops was the Ristna Lighthouse on the Ristna Cape in the far northwest of the island. We walked out … Continue reading →

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Another new Independent Study project appears: The Hilliste Formation paleoenvironments and paleoecology

Mark Wilson July 11, 2012 2:46 pm

KÄINA, ESTONIA–Today Jonah Novek officially began the fieldwork for his Independent Study research: a sedimentological and faunal analysis of the Hilliste Formation (Lower Silurian, Rhuddanian) on Hiiumaa Island, Estonia. Jonah will be continuing the work begun by Rachel Matt (’12) … Continue reading →

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

Mark Wilson July 10, 2012 2:45 pm

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

Mark Wilson July 9, 2012 2:33 pm

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

Mark Wilson July 8, 2012 11:15 am

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)

Mark Wilson July 8, 2012 12:24 am

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

Mark Wilson July 7, 2012 2:12 pm

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

Mark Wilson July 6, 2012 2:27 pm

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

Mark Wilson July 1, 2012 1:49 am

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)

Mark Wilson June 24, 2012 1:00 am

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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