As the organizers explain, providing insights into the early history of the Earth, including its geodynamics, is one of the fundamental tasks for geology.

– This will surely be an interesting conference, during which we’ll discuss a widest spectrum of Precambrian geology questions – said Alexander Slabunov, KarRC RAS Deputy Director General, Head of Precambrian Geology and Geodynamics Laboratory at the Institute of Geology KarRC RAS, Chair of the Conference Organizing Committee, in his opening speech.

The conference was welcomed by KarRC RAS Director General Olga Bakhmet. She told the guests about the Karelian Research Centre and especially highlighted the activities of the Institute of Geology:

– The Institute has very active staff: they both perform brilliantly in basic research and handle applied research tasks. Furthermore, the Institute carries out scientific communication on a regular basis: for many years its staff have been committed to educating schoolchildren, students, guests of the city about the geological history of the region. There operates the Precambrian Geology Museum; Welcome Days and Museum Nights are organized. The scientists’ vigorous activity draws attention to the work of the Institute of Geology not only inside our region but also far beyond.

The themes to be covered during the conference include “Early Precambrian versus Modern geology and geodynamics”, “Comparative analysis of Archean and Proterozoic geodynamic processes”, “Supercontinental cyclicity and geodynamics”, “Geodynamic processes and the evolution of life”, and others. According to Director of the Institute of Geology KarRC RAS Sergey Svetov, comparison of geological epochs is a topic that always remains on the agenda.

– We’re lucky to have an excellent ground for research – the Fennoscandian (or Baltic) Shield, which has its Archean as well as Proterozoic parts perfectly exposed. This gives us the chance to advance geological science very actively and even go to the site with our discussions, – the Director remarked.

Thus, the venue for the third day of the conference will be Yalgora Village near Petrozavodsk. Yalguba Ridge is a unique natural geological destination. This is a region with igneous rocks of varying appearance, formed some 2 Ga ago by stratovolcano activity.

As Sergey Svetov shared, Yalgora is promising as a potential geopark. A vivid example of an existing geopark is the Girvas Paleovolcano, founded 7 years ago and operating under scientific supervision of the Institute of Geology KarRC RAS. This year, a museum was opened in this park, which had some 6000 visitors over the season.

At the same time, the Director remarks, popularization must not overtop fundamentality, which requires lots of effort, thorough preparations, and profound discussions. By the way, vigorous scientific discussions is what is expected from the conference, apart from oral and poster presentations. Among the experts attending the conference in Petrozavodsk are RAS Corr. Academician Alexander Samsonov (Institute of Geology of Ore Deposits, Petrography, Mineralogy and Geochemistry RAS, Moscow), Dr. Sci. Andrey Shchipansky (Geological Institute RAS, Moscow), Dr. Sci. Shauket Baltybaev (Institute of Precambrian Geology and Geochronology RAS, St. Petersburg), Cand. Sci. Pavel Kozlov (Institute of Geology and Geochemistry, Ural Branch RAS, Yekaterinburg), Dr. Sci. Roman Veselovsky (Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow), and many others.

The complete conference program and proceedings are available on the official website of the event.