The Micropaleontology Laboratory was founded within the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences in January 1964. Alexander V. Fursenko, Corresponding Member of the AS of Byelorussian SSR, an outstanding Soviet micropaleontologist, was invited to run the newly established laboratory. His successor Alexander V. Kanygin, RAS Corresponding Member, headed the laboratory from 1976 to 1997. Since 1997 up until now, the Micropaleontology Lab has been run by Boris L. Nikitenko, Dr. Sc. (geol.-mineral.).
The research conducted by the Micropaleontology Lab staff is essentially based on the research development plan of the Institute of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics SB RAS
The research activities that the lab staff actively involved in include but not limited to:
complex integration projects of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SB RAS) (Project 2. "Humans in the Environmental context: evolution of natural processes in the Holocene and their impact on settlement patterns and environmental
conditions of ancient humans (Baraba and Mongolian Altai)"; Project 6.4. "Geological structure, geodynamic history and petroleum potential of the Upper Precambrian and Paleozoic of the West Siberian geosyneclise");
projects under the auspices of the main school of thought (NS-628.2006. 5) "Major trends and periodic processes in the evolution of marine ecosystems as criteria for substantiation of stratotypes and paleobiogeographic zonation
(based on the study of Proterozoic and Phanerozoic paleobasins of Siberia)";
Lavrentyev Youth Project supported by the Siberian Branch RAS "Reconstruction of the Middle-Late Holocene natural environmental and climatic conditions of the Ob’ region near Novosibirsk (using palynological and micropaleontological data)";
projects solicited, vetted and funded by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR).
Microfauna (specifically, foraminifers and ostracods) due to their small size, occurrence frequency, high taxonomic diversity, and relatively high evolutionary rates of individual species have proven to be an extremely effective instrument for stratification of closed areas. It should be noted that stratification (detailed division) of the sedimentary cover of sea shelves draws heavily on the micropaleontological analysis, to infer deposits age, genesis, and sedimentation conditions.
The research results on microfauna, stratigraphy, paleogeography and biofacies are often made part of research works commissioned to IPGG by geology subdivisions of the Ministry of Natural Resources, Ministry of Fuel and Energy of Russia, administrations of Siberian regions and districts, and are included in scientific reports compiled under research agreements with industry partners and other interested companies/ institutions.
The Micropaleontology Laboratory of IPGG SB RAS ranks among leading national laboratories in the field. Its specialists’ expertise in the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic allows providing up-to-date comprehensive micropaleontological data processing. Also worth nothing is that most of the lab leading specialists in micropaleontology and stratigraphy are doctors and candidates of science (PhDs) in the field of Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic micropaleontology and stratigraphy of Northern Russia are widely recognized within the international scientific community. Many of them are members of the International (ISC) and Siberian Regional Commissions on Stratigraphy (SibRMSC), and members of international micropaleontological commissions.
The Laboratory research draws on extensive material represented by huge collections of microfossils with thousands of samples collected from both natural outcrops and hundreds of wells that penetrated the Mesozoic and Cenozoic in the North of European Russia, Western and Eastern Siberia and Northeastern Russia.
The Laboratory also has collections of Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic microfauna (foraminifers, ostracods, radiolarians) from reference sections of Western Siberia obtained as a result of drilling in the late 50's - early 80's and transferred for storage and study to the IPGG Micropaleontology laboratory by other institutions and companies. In collaboration with American specialists (M.B. Mickey), microfauna (foraminifers and ostracods) and sections of the Mesozoic of northern Alaska and the American sector of the Chukchi Sea were studied for several years.
The laboratory staff conducts an extensive monographic study based on both recently obtained data on microfossils and those resulted from the revision of previously published materials because of general progress in stratigtraphy in the last decades.
Another fundamental task involves searches for the interregional, circumboreal, and global correlation levels in the Paleozoic and Mesozoic, allowing us to develop correlation charts. The correlation boundaries of Boreal and Subboreal (standard) zones have been changed recently, permitting the development of circumboreal Jurassic zonal scales based on parastratigraphic groups by constructing the circumboreal correlation chart for reference levels. The northern Siberian foraminifer and ostracod zonation of the Jurassic served as the basis for the Boreal zonal biostratigraphic standard.
Numerous studies of microfauna have been conducted jointly with specialists from the Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic paleontology and stratigraphy labs, as well as from the petroleum laboratories of IPGG SB RAS.
The laboratory facility accommodates high end computer equipment and specialized software, a few high-resolution microscopes, including Stemi SV-11 allowing visualizing digital pictures of microfossils in a computer. The high analytical potential of the laboratory is also maintained by the access to the institute’s cutting-edge scanning electron microscope.
Thus, the Micropaleontology laboratory professionals are equipped for and committed to providing high quality research through their involvement in :
stratigraphic subdivisions with high level of detail for Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic strata in Northern Russia, and zonal division and correlation of studied sections based on micropaleontological (foraminifera, ostracodes) analysis,
development of biostratigraphic schemes for particular provinces or zones,
systematic lithostratigraphic studies,
substantiation and implementation of bio- and lithostratigraphic subdivisions.
Our research results will aid in mapping and structural interpretations. Besides, application of micropaleontological tools is indispensable for planning geological exploration and geological prospecting works.
Попов Б.М.Позднедевонские остракоды на территории юго-востока Западной Сибири // Палеонтологические местонахождения и геологические памятники России: исследования, музеефикация, сохранение и перспективы развития: материалы III Международного симпозиума (д. Шестаково, Кемеровская область, 26-29 июня 2024 г.) – Изд-во Томского государственного университета – Томск – P. 45-46 – 2024
Зайчикова Е.В.Позднеюрские фораминиферы юго-востока Западносибирского бассейна // Палеонтологические местонахождения и геологические памятники России: исследования, музеефикация, сохранение и перспективы развития: материалы III Международного симпозиума (д. Шестаково, Кемеровская область, 26-29 июня 2024 г.) – Изд-во Томского государственного университета – Томск – P. 15-17 – 2024
