Russian marine geologists celebrated the 75th anniversary of VNIIOkeangeologiya in St. Petersburg

November 24, 2023 All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources of the World Ocean named after Academician I.S. Gramberg (FGBI "VNIIOkeangeologiya") celebrated its 75th anniversary. On this day, the traditional noon shot of the Naryshkin signal gun of the Peter and Paul Fortress bastion sounded in honor of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "VNIIOkeangeologiya". Dmitry Tetenkin, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation, Evgeny Petrovevgeny Petrov, Head of the Federal Agency for Subsoil Use, Boris Shumsky, Director General of VNIIOKEANGEOLOGY, and heads of subordinate organizations of Rosnedra took part in the ceremony of the solemn shot. A scientific and practical meeting dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the NIIGA - VNIIOkeangeologiya "World Ocean, continental shelf, Arctic and Antarctic: the state of geological knowledge and prospects for further research" was held in the main building of the Institute.

Created in the Glavsevmorput system in 1948 and originally named the Research Institute of Arctic Geology (NIIGA) in the difficult post-war years made an invaluable contribution to the expansion of the country's mineral resource base, focusing research on the study of the Far North and Arctic archipelagos. In the first decades of the institute's activity, ores from the Taimyr-Norilsk region, oil from the north of Western Siberia, Yakut indigenous and placer diamonds, apatite and rare earth-rare metal ores from the north of Yakutia and the Krasnoyarsk Territory were discovered. Only the list of deposits discovered with the direct participation of the Institute's specialists is approaching three dozen.
Starting with the first Soviet Antarctic expedition (1955 – 1956), the Institute assumed the main functions for the implementation of the national program for the geological study of Antarctica.

In the 60s, the Institute launched a systematic geological and geophysical study of the Arctic Ocean, having prepared by the early 70s the first forecast assessment of the prospects for the oil and gas potential of the Arctic shelf of the USSR, which served as the basis for a state decision on setting up a wide range of oil and gas works on the shelf. VNIIOkeangeologiya is an undoubted pioneer and scientific leader in the study of ore minerals of the World Ocean floor; it contributes to the work on the substantiation of the outer boundary of the Russian continental shelf in the Sea of Okhotsk and the Arctic Ocean by geological and geophysical methods. The consistent change of scientific and professional priorities in the interests of the state led to a grandiose expansion of the geography of research with access to the World Ocean and the change of the institute's name to the All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources of the World Ocean in 1981.

Today, VNIIOkeangeologiya is the leading scientific research organization of the Federal Agency for Subsoil Use Rosnedra of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation in the field of geological study of the continental shelf and minerals of the seabed of the World Ocean, the Arctic, and Antarctica. Based on the experience and achievements of outstanding research scientists, including N.N. Urvantsev, V.N. Sachs, I.P. Atlasov, I.S. Gramberg and many others, the Institute's staff successfully solve the tasks set, combining the best traditions of the Russian geological school with modern world-class technologies and mastering new competencies for the development of marine geological industries.

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