Tag Archives: fossils

Some fieldwork actually improved by rain

Mark Wilson July 7, 2009 1:50 pm

UNDVA CLIFF, SAAREMAA, ESTONIA–I’ve never had anything good to say about rain during geological fieldwork, but our colleague Bill Ausich from Ohio State University insisted that it makes echinoderm fossils stand out better against the rock matrix. Turns out he’s … Continue reading →

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A Second Project Emerges on the Glorious Fourth of July

Mark Wilson July 4, 2009 1:57 pm

KAUGATUMA, SAAREMAA, ESTONIA–It is always an important moment for a Wooster geology research team when it identifies its final student independent study project. Today Palmer Shonk found his. There is a remarkable exposure of a high-energy deposit in the Aigu … Continue reading →

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One Student Project Born

Mark Wilson July 2, 2009 2:35 pm

KURESSAARE, SAAREMAA ISLAND, ESTONIA–It was an exquisitely crystalline day of blue and gray here with clear skies, a sparkling sea, and beautiful limestones just waiting for the touch of our hammers. We continued to explore the Lower Silurian (Wenlock) of … Continue reading →

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The Baltic Boys

Mark Wilson July 1, 2009 3:06 pm

KURESSAARE, SAAREMAA ISLAND, ESTONIA–Like the Iceland team, our first full field day in Estonia was spent in reconnaissance on the islands of Muhu and Saaremaa. We visited an abandoned quarry just north of Koguva to examine Lower Silurian (Wenlock) dolomitic … Continue reading →

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Thoughts on Leaving Svalbard

Mark Wilson June 30, 2009 4:21 am

I’m now in Tallinn, Estonia, awaiting the arrival of Bill Ausich (OSU Professor), Rob McConnell, and Palmer Shonk (intrepid Wooster Senior Independent Study students). Our fieldwork will begin tomorrow once the team is assembled with our Estonian host, Olev Vinn … Continue reading →

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A Great Geological Day in Norway

Mark Wilson June 24, 2009 3:54 pm

OSLO, NORWAY–This Wooster geologist had an excellent time here in the capital city of Norway today. I met up with Hans Arne Nakrem, a Norwegian paleontologist with the Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, and we looked at specimens he … Continue reading →

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Thoughts on Future Wooster Geology Research in Russia

Mark Wilson June 17, 2009 1:56 pm

I was very impressed by the Ordovician rocks I saw in the Leningrad Region on this past trip.  I had seen parts of the Ordovician System in Estonia nearby, but not to this extent nor this particular facies.  My model … Continue reading →

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Goal!

Mark Wilson June 8, 2009 2:23 am

BABINO, LENINGRAD REGION, RUSSIA–Today we visited an active quarry, which is a different experience from the riverbank exposures and abandoned quarries we have been frequenting.  Quarry mud has a special character — a kind of purified mud, the kind of … Continue reading →

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Ordovician Hardgrounds

Mark Wilson June 7, 2009 2:06 am

SYAS RIVER, LENINGRAD REGION, RUSSIA–The main geological attractions for me on this expedition are the abundant carbonate hardgrounds in the Lower and Middle Ordovician in this part of the world.  A carbonate hardground is a cemented seafloor.  What were soft … Continue reading →

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First Find

Mark Wilson June 5, 2009 2:02 am

NEAR KHAMONTOVO, LENINGRAD REGION, RUSSIA–When you’re a paleontologist in the field with other geologists for the first time, you need to prove your general scientific worth by either saying witty things or finding an excellent specimen right away. I went … Continue reading →

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