Most of laboratory research is fundamental and it is aimed at the study of the internal structure of the Earth's mantle and core, and the behavior of matter at high pressures. Applied aspects deal with the development of search criteria for discovering diamond deposits, the search of minerals associated with basic and ultrabasic intrusions, carbonatites, as well as the high-pressure synthesis of new materials based on carbon, which will be used in high-pressure technology and microelectronics.
Areas of laboratory research are:
- Traditional research area for the Institute of Geology and Mineralogy SB RAS and Department of Geophysics and Geology NSU - diamond, mantle xenoliths and kimberlite magmatism petrology. The largest collections of diamonds and xenoliths from kimberlites of Yakut Province are being studied by the staff of several laboratories since 1970s. Mantle rocks at depths of 150-250 km, as well as diamond inclusions, some of which indicate the formation depth to reach 700-800 km are the only direct source of information about the internal structure of the Earth. The level of the 21st century analytical methods allows us to investigate nanoscale inclusions in diamonds that carry unique information about their origin.
- The study of the geochemistry and petrology of igneous rocks of the Asian region is the second most important area of the laboratory research. Kimberlite is a rare type of rock, even though it carries the direct information about the structure of the deepest areas of the Earth. The most common basaltic magma is of global significance in determining how the evolution of matter and mass balance in the earth's crust. At the same time they carry indirect information about the melting and the structure of the Earth's mantle.
- Experimental studies at high pressures allow to reconstruct the processes of magmatism on the surface, as well as to look at depths inaccessible by basalt and kimberlite magmas. The laboratory where it is possible for the first time in Russia to carry out static experiments at pressures up to 30 GPa (corresponding to 800 km into the Earth depth) and temperatures up to 2500 K has been created. At the same time similar experiments are important for the synthesis of new materials based on diamond and other compounds.
- The X-ray analysis is an important aspect of the analytical research of the laboratory. It helps to study a large number of new natural minerals and materials, synthesized at high pressures or in experiments at 1 atm.
A complex work that combines petrological and experimental evidence of the dominant role of carbonatite melts acting as an agent of matter transfer in the Earth's mantle, the agent of the root part metasomatism of the lithospheric plates and the source of lithospheric diamonds has been carried out.
International partners of the laboratory: Tohoku University (Sendai, Japan), Tokyo University (Tokyo, Japan), Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo, Japan), Ehime University (Matsuyama, Japan), Geophysical Laboratory and Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington (Washington DC, USA), Bayreuth University (Bayreuth, Germany), Géosciences Montpellier, Université de Montpellier (Montpellier, France), School of Physical Sciences, University of Tasmania (Hobart, Tasmania, Australia), ARC National Key Centre for GEMOC, Macquarie University (Sydney, Australia)
Head of Laboratory: Doctor in Geology and Mineralogy Konstantin Litasov,
klitasov@igm.nsc.ru
Department of Geology and Geophysics NSU
Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences 