Tag Archives: Ordovician

Wooster celebrates National Fossil Day

WOOSTER, OHIO–Today we are celebrating the first annual National Fossil Day (or at least I am!). Be sure to check out that link from the National Park Service — it contains the official National Fossil Day song! My recognition of … Continue reading

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Wooster Paleontologists in Indiana!

RICHMOND and LIBERTY, INDIANA–The College of Wooster Invertebrate Paleontology class had its field trip today to sunny eastern Indiana. We collected bags and bags of fossils from Upper Ordovician strata for research projects throughout the rest of the course. Each … Continue reading

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Stony bryozoans get their day

KIEL, GERMANY–The first day of the International Bryozoology Association meeting is traditionally devoted to workshops where participants can listen to experts on a particular group, technique or idea and then ask questions, work out exercises, or study specimens. I went … Continue reading

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The utility of trace fossils

LOGAN, UTAH–Today we hiked north of Tony Grove Lake in Logan Canyon to explore an Ordovician sequence of rocks. The most interesting unit (to my surprise) was the Swan Peak Quartzite, an orange-brown unit at the base of a white … Continue reading

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Wooster Geologist in Ohio!

CAESAR CREEK STATE PARK, OHIO–I’ve definitely extended my field season as far as possible.  (And what a season it has been.)  My last fieldwork at the end of this research leave was in Ohio, about three hours south of Wooster.  … Continue reading

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You know that your field season is over …

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A record of ancient earthquakes

MAYSVILLE, KENTUCKY–Strong earthquakes produce seismic waves which can do much damage on land, as we well know.  They can also disturb unconsolidated sediments on shallow oceanic shelves and platforms, producing characteristically swirled structures called seismites.  The Upper Ordovician outcrop we … Continue reading

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Mysterious out-of-place rocks in the Ordovician of Kentucky

MAYSVILLE, KENTUCKY–Our short geological expedition to northern Kentucky today was to look at some odd blocks of limestone that sit suspended in the sediments as if they were dropped in while the sequence was accumulating. These rocks are bored by … Continue reading

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Wooster Geologist in Kentucky

MAYSVILLE, KENTUCKY–Today I visited the University of Cincinnati for a meeting of Aaron House’s thesis committee, on which I serve.  (Aaron is a 2004 geology graduate from The College of Wooster.)  It all went very well and soon after Aaron … Continue reading

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The wonder of natural history museums

TALLINN, ESTONIA–Scientific museums preserve specimens and information from generations of researchers, collectors and students. The interiors of a typical paleontological museum contains windowless rooms filled almost to the ceiling with cabinets, each with dozens of drawers containing carefully labeled and … Continue reading

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