TOMSK, Nov 28 – RIA Tomsk. Modern installation of radioisotope dating to determine the age of geological objects was launched on Wednesday in the Laboratory of Geochronology and Geodynamics of Tomsk State University (TSU), the equipment will allow to date ores and minerals under the age of 4.5 billion years, reports the correspondent of RIA Tomsk.
The launch of the new installation took place on Wednesday, November 28th. It was attended by the rector of TSU Eduard Galazhinsky, the acting. dean of the Faculty of Geology and Geography of TSU Platon Tishin, the head of the laboratory Richard Ernst and other scientists. The laboratory works on the basis of the analytical center of geochemistry of natural systems of TSU, which conducts research for scientific, geological survey organizations, metallurgical, oil and gas producing and service companies.
"The laboratory was thought since 2005. Five times it was submitted to a megagrant with different partners, there was a very long work on creating the complex, and, in fact, the design of the laboratory completes this 13-year history. I am sure that this project will allow to attract new scientists and solve new research tasks", - Galazhinsky said during the ceremony.
According to Tishin, the installation for radioisotope dating, equipped with a powerful laser, will become the main tool in the laboratory. It allows to date objects up to 4.5 billion years old. "There are less than a dozen similar facilities in Russia, ours differs from all the others with the fact that it has the most powerful laser installed ... This equipment allows determining the absolute age of ores and minerals using the uranium-lead method, which is the "gold standard" of geochronology", - he said.
As Ernst specified in turn, the availability of data on the exact age of ores and minerals helps to significantly reduce the time and territory for searching for new deposits of gold, nickel, diamonds, copper, platinum and other valuable natural resources. With the help of a new installation, scientists will conduct such research for Siberia and determine potential mineral reserves.
He also said that in the laboratory will work the international scientific group, which includes researchers from TSU and other leading scientific and educational centers of Siberia, China, USA, Canada, and Spain.