New data on the granite pedestal of the monument to Peter the Great “The Bronze Horseman” in Saint Petersburg

Abstract

In order to expand and popularize knowledge about the stone decoration of Saint Petersburg, we present new data on the mineralogy and petrography of the famous Thunder-Stone, the parts of which were the basis for the monument to Peter the Great – the legendary “Bronze Horseman”. In the course of studying geological documentation of the monument's granite base, we examined the mineral composition and internal structure of granite, as well as the fragments of a pegmatite vein and veinlets found in it. 25 single-mineral samples were collected from the available micro-scaled shear fractures within the pedestal surface and studied by electron microscopy, electron probe and X-ray phase analysis. It was established that K-Na feldspar in the granite composition was represented by microcline, whereas micas were represented by annite-siderophyllite and muscovite. Accessory minerals included monazite, xenotime, thorite, zircon, rutile, apatite, fluorite, Ti-, Nb-, Ta-bearing minerals, uranium phosphates. The presence of topaz is characteristic of pegmatites. The revealed structural and textural features of four granite boulders in the monument pedestal, as well as mineralogical and chemical composition of their rock-forming and accessory minerals, showed the similarity of this rock to Precambrian biotite-muscovite granites and topaz-containing pegmatites (stockscheiders) of the late formation phase of the Vyborg rapakivi granite massif. The research results are considered as the basis for further geological and mineralogical study of the Thunder-Stone origin and determining the place of its separation from the primary source.