Collections

Geological collections constitute large part of all natural history collections and are usually subdivided into mineralogical, petrological and palaeontological collections. Specimen-level collections are complemented with scientifically invaluable drill cores, rocks samples, preparations and so on. All of them help us to interpret the history of Earth and Life.

The Institute of Geology at Tallinn University of Technology possesses the largest geological collections in Estonia. They comprise fossils, rocks, minerals and meteorites from all over the world, the emphasis being, however, on the Estonian and former Soviet Union material. The collections include historical specimens collected already in the 1850s, but most of the material has been accumulated since the 1950s until present.

The collections form an integral part of the research carried out at the Institute, particularly in the fields of paleontology, sedimentology and geochemistry.

Database

Vast amounts of data related to collections are nowadays kept in electronic information systems. At the Institute of Geology, development of such system started in 1998 and since 2002 most of the digital data are publicly available on-line. As of 2006 Estonian Museum of Natural History and University of Tartu, Museum of Geology utilise the same database system. For basic data retrieval from all three institutions a common web portal can be used: geokogud.info.

Currently the database of the Institute of Geology holds 98001 specimen-level records (including 12858 type- and figured specimens), most of which are accessible online. See full statistics. Some information about the database structure is also available.