Author Archives: Mark Wilson

Since Melissa Torma and I recently returned from our expedition to southern Israel (see immediately previous posts), I thought our weekly fossil highlight should be one of our specimens collected from the Middle Jurassic Matmor Formation of Makhtesh Ga… Continue reading →

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–In the image above, Yoav Avni is standing at the edge of an erosional gully that is less than a year old. In fact, it may have formed in less than three months. This little canyon is cutting … Continue reading → Continue reading →

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–In the image above, Yoav Avni is standing at the edge of an erosional gully that is less than a year old. In fact, it may have formed in less than three months. This little canyon is cutting … Continue reading → Continue reading →

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–Since the water level in the Dead Sea is dropping an astounding one meter per year, the drainage base level is dropping along with it. This means that gullies and canyons feeding into the Dead Sea are eroding … Continue… Continue reading →

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–Today we saw the Dead Sea in an amazing way. Yoav is working on a project involving the siting of a new pumping station along the western shore of the Dead Sea. We had a preview of a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–Yes, that Sodom. This morning Melissa, Yoav, Noa and I visited a cave formed in Mount Sodom in the Dead Sea Rift Valley. Mount Sodom is a remarkable mountain of halite (sodium chloride — table salt) with very … Co… Continue reading →

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–Melissa and I had a fantastic day, much of which will stretch over at least another couple of blog entries. We traveled to the Dead Sea region with our Israeli geologist colleague and friend Yoav Avni and his … Continue… Continue reading →

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–This isn’t a product review — it’s a love note. We’ve mentioned our field equipment on this blog before, most notably while using iPads in Estonia and Iceland. I just want to express a little gratitude… Continue reading →

The first photo below was taken from my hotel room yesterday afternoon as the cold wind raged and rain approached. The second was taken this morning. Springtime in Israel! We are now leaving on a trip to the Dead Sea … Continue reading → Continue reading →

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL–This region has a very deep human history, and some of it is evident in subtle changes to the landscape itself. Throughout the northern Negev are simple stone structures that are sometimes called “Davidic forts” a… Continue reading →