Tag Archives: Israel

Mishash, b’gosh

Mark Wilson May 29, 2011 1:55 pm

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–Today Will and I drove south, east and north to meet Dr. Yael Edelmen-Furstenburg of the Geological Survey of Israel. She gave us a most excellent tour of the Mishash (pronounced ME-shawsh) Formation (Campanian, Upper Cretaceous) in the … Continue reading →

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Incidents of Travel in Southern Israel

Mark Wilson May 29, 2011 11:23 am
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A wall of Cretaceous ammonites

Mark Wilson May 28, 2011 3:11 pm

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–On our way back from Eilat this afternoon, Will and I took a short hike to see the “Ammonite Wall” on the southern outside beds of Makhtesh Ramon. It is an impressive tilted array of large ammonites in … Continue reading →

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A visit to a dying reef system

Mark Wilson May 28, 2011 11:17 am

EILAT, ISRAEL–When I first visited the Underwater Observatory Marine Park outside Eilat on the Red Sea coast near the Egyptian border, I was enchanted. An elegant steel and glass tower was built into a reef so that you can descend … Continue reading →

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A rare late May rain in the Negev

Mark Wilson May 28, 2011 10:25 am

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–The only other time I’ve seen rain in southern Israel was with Elyssa Krivicich on our March 2008 trip. By May the rains are done in this part of the world. Nevertheless, it rained last night and then … Continue reading →

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Cobbling together a Late Cretaceous story

Mark Wilson May 27, 2011 10:08 am

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–This morning Will and I finished our work with the Zihor/Menuha boundary cobbles. We drove to the southern side of Makhtesh Ramon (pictured above) to see the same units we examined 25 kilometers to the north in Wadi … Continue reading →

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The Ora Formation: A future student project?

Mark Wilson 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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Makhteshim Country: A Future UNESCO Geopark?

Mark Wilson May 26, 2011 2:30 pm

MITZPE RAMON–Our colleague Yoav Avni of the Geological Survey of Israel is part of a movement to declare the Negev Desert around the three major makhteshim a Geopark cataloged by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). A … Continue reading →

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

Mark Wilson 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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Camel stand-off!

Mark Wilson May 26, 2011 7:28 am

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–It wouldn’t be the Middle East without a camel encounter or two. One year a camel literally ate my lunch when I left it in the shade of the car during a long morning’s work. (He even ate … Continue reading →

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