Exploration of the European North of Russia by the Geological Committee during the 1882-1918

Abstract

The object of this research is the history of scientific development of the European North of Russia in the late XIX – early XX century. The subject of this research is the historical role of the Geological Committee in exploration of this territory. The chronological framework covers the period from 1882 to 1918, since the establishment of scientific institution until its reorganization as a result of revolutionary events of 1917. Based on the archival and published sources, the author analyzes expedition activity of the Geological Committee in Northern Ural, Timman, Novaya Zemlya, and the Kola Peninsula in the late XIX – early XX centuries, the results of which became the first systematic integrated explorations on regional geology of the European North of Russia. The indicated problematic has not previously become the subject of separate research. It is proven that research of the European North of Russia was one of the priority vectors of the Geological Committee at the time. The following expedition results are highlighted:  a substantial territory of the European North of Russia is explored; thorough geological surveying is conducted; extensive paleontological collection is amassed; mineral deposits are discovered that gave science conceptually new data on geological development of this region. Research conducted by the Geological Committee demonstrated the resource potential of northern territories and raised the question on the need for their inclusion into economic development of the country, which became an important factor for further development of the European North of Russia.