Scientists talked about space mineralogy and solar system resources

13:42, May 29, 2020

Conference dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the University and the 50th anniversary of delivery of lunar soil

On May 25–28, the VIII Conference of Young Scientists with international participation “Meteorites. Asteroids. Comet”, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Ural Federal University and the 50th anniversary of delivery of lunar soil to the Earth, was held online and in conjunction with the XI All-Russian Youth Scientific Conference "Minerals: Structure, Properties, Research Methods" organized by the Institute of Geology and Geochemistry of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

“The Conferences are traditionally devoted to the problems of crystal chemistry and typomorphism of minerals on Earth and in space. This time, participants considered issues related to the structure, physical, chemical and technological properties of minerals, nanosized structures and inclusions, use of modern physical methods in mineralogy”, explains Viktor Grokhovskiy, member of the Organizing Committee, Professor of the Department of Physical Techniques and Devices for Quality Control of the Institute of Physics and Technology of UrFU.

The three main lines of the discussions - minerals, mineral-forming systems and processes of mineral formation, methods of mineral analysis and cosmic mineralogy. In particular, scientists made presentations on the latest research results on crystal chemistry and topomorphism of minerals, their physical and chemical properties, and provided data on small bodies of the solar system, properties of the lunar soil, cosmic dust, tektites, and also talked about the physics of bolids and the exploration of solar system resources.

Thanks to online format, scientists from different places of the globe took part in the conference: from Ulan-Ude (Mongolia) to Indiana (USA), from the city of Apatity to the Czech Republic and Turkey. The participants recognised the successful format of scientific communication and the prospect of such youth events to be held in the future.

“The reports related to the cosmic nature of microspherules prompted a special discussion,” says one of the organizers of the conference, Associate Professor of the Department of Physical Techniques and Devices for Quality Control of the Institute of Physics and Technology of UrFU Evgeniya Petrova. - Indeed, such spherules can be found in peat, in placers, in sedimentary rocks, in ice, in gutters, and even in urban mud. There are still no generally accepted criteria for distinguishing cosmic spherules. Experiments conducted with meteor substance in a plasmatron at the Institute of Physics and Technology give a chance to advance the matter”.

The reports are published in the Collection of Theses of Reports.