Tag Archives: Negev

Exploring the top of the Matmor Formation (Middle Jurassic) in Makhtesh Gadol

Mark Wilson March 16, 2016 12:16 am

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL — Today I joined four Israeli colleagues to study in detail the top of the Matmor Formation (Callovian, Middle Jurassic) in Makhtesh Gadol, Negev Highlands, southern Israel. The view above is looking south in the Matmor Hills … Continue reading →

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A day in the Zohar and Matmor Formations of the Negev

Mark Wilson March 15, 2016 12:15 am

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL — It was another very windy day in southern Israel, but still just fine for fieldwork. Yael Edelman-Furstenburg, Yael Leshno and I returned to Makhtesh Gadol to work on Yael Leshno’s data collection procedures for her PhD … Continue reading →

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Return to Makhtesh Gadol … and introducing the Yaels

Mark Wilson March 14, 2016 12:14 am

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–Today I went to one of my favorite geological places: Makhtesh Gadol in the northern Negev highlands of Israel. It was a special day as well because I worked there with two excellent geologists: Yael Edelman-Furstenberg of the … Continue reading →

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Wooster Geologist Returns to Israel: A visit to the Cretaceous Ora Formation

Mark Wilson March 13, 2016 12:13 am

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL — This is my 14th visit to Israel. I’ll be spending ten days here doing fieldwork in places I’ve come to love: Makhtesh Ramon, Makhtesh Gadol, and the Aravah Valley. I’ve returned to complete some Jurassic studies, … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A barnacle and sponge symbiosis from the Middle Jurassic of Israel

Mark Wilson July 4, 2014 1:19 am

[Programing note: Wooster’s Fossil of the Week is now being released on Fridays to correspond with the popular Fossil Friday on Twitter and other platforms.] This week’s fossil is again from the Matmor Formation (Middle Jurassic, Callovian) of southern Israel. … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A geopetal structure in a boring from the Middle Jurassic of Israel

Mark Wilson June 15, 2014 1:25 am

We have a very simple trace and body fossil combination this week that provides a stratigraphic and structural geologic tool. Above is a bit of scleractinian coral from the Matmor Formation (Middle Jurassic, Callovian) of Makhtesh Gadol in southern Israel. … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A fragment of an asteroid (the sea star kind) from the Upper Cretaceous of Israel

Mark Wilson June 8, 2014 1:07 am

This is not an important fossil — there is not enough preserved to put a name on it beyond Family Goniasteridae Forbes, 1841 (thanks, Dan Blake) — but it was a fun one to find. It also photographs well. This is … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: One sick crinoid from the Middle Jurassic of Israel

Mark Wilson May 11, 2014 1:01 am

My first thought on seeing this distorted fossil was how much it evoked one of those Palaeolithic “Venus figurines“. It is certainly difficult to deduce that this is actually a crinoid column (or stem). It was found during my last … Continue reading →

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Last work of Team Israel, Matmor Division

Mark Wilson May 5, 2014 6:11 pm

WOOSTER, OHIO–Steph Bosch (’14) and Lizzie Reinthal (’14) volunteered to examine the Matmor Formation fossils I collected last month in Israel. Each fossil, most of which are crinoid ossicles, must be scanned under a microscope for tiny encrusters (especially bryozoans), … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A helpful echinoid from the Upper Cretaceous of Israel

Mark Wilson April 27, 2014 1:40 am

These beaten-up fossils have served me well in the field this month. They are the regular echinoid Heterodiadema lybicum (Agassiz & Desor, 1846). They are common in the Cenomanian throughout northern Africa and the Middle East. These particular specimens, the … Continue reading →

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