Tag Archives: fossils

The Ora Formation: A future student project?

mwilson May 27, 2011 9:34 am

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–I’ve always enjoyed seeing the Ora Formation, which is exposed only in Makhtesh Ramon and to the south. It is early Late Turonian in age, so it is part of the Upper Cretaceous and about 90 million years … Continue reading →

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It is always a good day if there are sclerobionts in it

mwilson May 26, 2011 9:10 am

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–Sclerobionts are organisms that live on or in a hard substrate. Paul Taylor and I coined the term in 2002, so I use it as often as I can. Maybe someday more than six people will know what … Continue reading →

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Crinoid success

mwilson May 25, 2011 11:50 am

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–One of our missions on this expedition to Israel is to find more and better examples of a distinctive crinoid in the Middle Jurassic Matmor Formation. Crinoids are stemmed echinoderms with a very long geological history, dating back … Continue reading →

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First field day: Makhtesh Gadol (A large bowl of geological delights)

mwilson May 23, 2011 2:18 pm

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–Today Will Cary, Yoav Avni (our friend from the Geological Survey of Israel) and I worked in the northern end of Makhtesh Gadol (“the large crater”). This geomorphic feature looks a bit like an oblong impact crater, but … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A scleractinian coral (Middle Jurassic of Israel)

mwilson May 15, 2011 1:20 am

In advance of my next field trip to Israel (watch this space!), our highlighted fossil this week is the scleractinian coral Microsolena, a genus named by the French naturalist Jean Vincent Félix Lamouroux in 1821. The specimen above was collected … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s “Fossil” of the Week: The most famous pseudofossil ever (Proterozoic of Canada)

mwilson May 8, 2011 1:51 am

This week’s specimen is a piece of obscure paleontological history, although it represents a “fossil” that was for a short time one of the most prominent in the world. In 1864, the uber-geologist Charles Lyell claimed it was “one of … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: Hyoliths (Middle Ordovician of Estonia)

mwilson May 1, 2011 1:30 am

The fossils above are about as simple as fossils can be. They are internal molds (sediment-fills) of conical shells that were made of the carbonate mineral aragonite.  The aragonite shells dissolved away after death and burial, leaving the cemented sediment … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: Oyster balls! (Middle Jurassic of Utah)

mwilson April 17, 2011 1:45 am

The technical term is ostreolith, but “oyster ball” is much more descriptive. These fossils are found by the thousands in the Carmel Formation (Middle Jurassic) in southwestern Utah. As far as I know, this is the only place they’ve ever … Continue reading →

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Paleoecological Reconstruction of the Menuha Formation (Upper Cretaceous, Santonian), Makhtesh Ramon Region, Southern Israel (Senior Independent Study Thesis by Andrew Retzler)

mwilson April 11, 2011 1:34 pm

Editor’s note: Senior Independent Study (I.S.) is a year-long program at The College of Wooster in which each student completes a research project and thesis with a faculty mentor.  We particularly enjoy I.S. in the Geology Department because there are … Continue reading →

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A Paleoenvironmental Analysis of the Zichor Formation in the Cretaceous of Southern Israel (Senior Independent Study Thesis by Micah Risacher)

mwilson April 11, 2011 9:52 am

Editor’s note: Senior Independent Study (I.S.) is a year-long program at The College of Wooster in which each student completes a research project and thesis with a faculty mentor.  We particularly enjoy I.S. in the Geology Department because there are … Continue reading →

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