Author Archives: Mark Wilson

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–The Wooster Geologists in Israel spent their last full day in the country visiting the Dead Sea Rift Valley and an archaeological site. It feels very good to have packed our hiking boots away for the season. Above, … Continue reading →
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MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–We like to think that Dr. Shelley Judge would be proud of our fieldwork today. The Wooster Geologists returned to Wadi Hawarim to finish our fieldwork for Oscar Mmari’s project on synsedimentary faulting in the Mishash Formation (Campanian, … Continue reading →
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MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–Today I had the pleasure of talking with four excellent Israeli students who form their nation’s team in the upcoming 7th International Earth Science Olympiad. Their advisor and coach, Hanan Ginat (on the far right), invited me to … Continue reading →
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MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–This is the beautiful 400-year-old Turkish wall surrounding Jerusalem. It and virtually all the buildings in Jerusalem is made of “Jerusalem Stone” (a set of Cretaceous micritic limestones, to be pedantic). When the sun rises or sets on … Continue reading →
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MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–The last location Wooster Geologists in Israel visited today was on the southern edge of the Makhtesh Ramon structure (N 30.58209°, E 34.89375°). Here are excellent exposures of the Ora Formation (Upper Cretaceous, Turonian). This curious feature was … Continue reading →
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MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–The second visit of the day for Wooster’s Team Israel 2013 was to the Gevanim Valley on the south side of the Makhtesh Ramon structure. This is a fascinating place where Cretaceous intrusions formed an uplifted dome exposing … Continue reading →
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MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–At first glance this rocky outcrop in the middle of Makhtesh Ramon appears to be a typical columnar-jointed basalt. We’ve seen this many times on our blog (for example here and here). However, these rocks are entirely a … Continue reading →
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MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–Our final stop on our geological tour today was close to our temporary home: on the northern rim of Makhtesh Ramon (N 30.62831°, E 34.81759). Exposed here is the En Yorqeam Formation (Upper Cretaceous, Cenomanian), seen above as … Continue reading →
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MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–Our third stop in our geological journey today was 19 km north of Mitzpe Ramon (N 30.76084°, E 34.72020°) at another outcrop of the Matred Formation (Middle Eocene). We again had silicification, but no corals this time, The … Continue reading →
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MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–Our next stop on this day of exploration was 32 km southeast of Mitzpe Ramon at outcrops of the Matred Formation (Middle Eocene). The location is N 30.36899°, E 34.98655°. Look at those coordinates on Google Maps and … Continue reading →
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