Anniversaries provoke interest in lessons gained from history

Full text

Estonian Journal of Earth Sciences, 2012, 61, 4, 193–194
193
Anniversaries provoke interest in lessons gained from history
This special issue of the Estonian Journal of Earth
Sciences (EJES) is dedicated to the 65th anniversary
of the Institute of Geology at Tallinn University of
Technology (IG), an institution founded at the Estonian
Academy of Sciences in 1947. In that context we also
note the 75th anniversary of the Geological Survey of
Estonia (GSE) that was established ten years earlier, in
June 1937. Then the Estonian Geological Committee
was created, which served for three years as the first
geological survey. Despite the shortness of the first
appearance, thanks to some continuity on personal basis
the GSE was re-established in August 1957 through a
number of interim transformations as an organization
under the government of the Estonian SSR. In more
detail the history of the GSE is treated in a review
by Vello Klein, former director of the GSE (Klein, V.
2012. 75 years in footsteps of the Geological Survey of
Estonia. Eesti Geoloogiakeskuse Toimetised, 11, 5–14
[in Estonian]). Celebration of these memorable dates
provoked a closer look at the history of geological
research and publication of several review books by
both institutions (for the GSE see the above paper
by Klein 2012). The history book of the IG, Institute
of Geology. Sixty-Five Years of History: Founding
and Changes, People and Science, Recollections and
Aspirations (Aaloe, A., Heinsalu, A. & Kaljo, D., eds,
2012), written in Estonian with the English summary, is
in press now. In addition, the present special issue of the
EJES publishes a set of current research results by
members of the institute and their colleagues from
elsewhere. Below, we will give a brief overview of both
publications with some general comments.
The IG history book presents a retrospective review
of the activities of the institution and its members over
the last 65 and more years. This was a rather complicated
period for Estonia and its people – years after World
War II, development of the Soviet Union from Stalin’s
to Gorbachev’s times, independent Estonia, its market
economy and science reform. These are only a few key
words marking the essence of the main stages of history
related to the story here.
The history of geosciences is generally subdivided
into two main periods. The first period, a pre-scientific
time of accumulating knowledge through experience
about minerals and rocks needed for life (tools, building
materials, etc.), lasted for nearly 10 000 years in Estonia
(beginning with the appearance of humans representing
the Kunda culture in 10–11 ka BP). The second period,
the development of scientific geology, is still pretty
short. Its conventional beginning was linked to the
reopening of the University of Tartu in 1802, although
the first publications describing geological objects
in Estonia appeared much earlier (in 1678). The
Mineralogical Cabinet, founded at the University of
Tartu in 1820, became the first geological institution
on the present territory of Estonia and the university
remained the single scientific establishment engaged
in geology for more than 100 years. During the first
Estonian Republic, the exploration of mineral deposits
was mainly the duty of the Mining Board at the Ministry
of Economics, and only in 1937 a special institution for
applied geology was founded – the GSE as mentioned
above. An Institute of Natural Resources, established
at the same time, was designed for the study of the
properties of useful minerals, as well as for the develop-
ment of their utilization technologies. Both institutions
were soon closed by the arrival of Soviet authorities in
1940, but importantly, part of their personnel was later
(1944) employed in a sector of useful minerals of the
Central Institute of Scientific Research of Industry of
the Estonian SSR. Three years later this sector became
a primary nucleus of the IG of the Estonian Academy
of Sciences.
Although the commencement of activities of this
new academic institute in 1947 did not bring along any
immediate changes in science or applied research in
geology, it was still an essential event in science policy.
This was the first time that an institution with strong
ambition to advance scientific geology outside the
universities appeared in Estonia. Later history has
testified that further progress in geosciences, during the
Soviet period in particular, occurred mainly due to the
efforts of this institute.
Further development of the IG is described in the
four parts of the book as follows. (1) History: chronicle
of events, predecessors, establishment of personnel and
structure. (2) Infrastructure: location, buildings, field
stations, laboratories and collections. (3) Research: main
trends, results and applications in six main fields –
Precambrian geology, Palaeozoic geology, Quaternary
geology, postglacial geology, isotope palaeoclimatology
and meteoritics. (4) Personal recollections. Four annexes
list administrations in between 1947 and 2007,
dissertations defended by the members of the IG, a list
of awards received and a list of IG employees from
1947 to 2011.

Estonian Journal of Earth Sciences, 2012, 61, 4, 193–194
194
Summarizing the main evolutionary trends in the
history of the institute, we should note two big
‘problems’ that have been topical for many years and
were relevant not only to the IG: (1) determining the
‘right’ proportion of fundamental and applied research
in an academic institution and (2) securing a qualified
rising generation for the sustainable future of research.
Both lines have had ups and downs, but let us mention a
few most memorable episodes. N. Khrushchev, leader
of the USSR, got an idea to ‘bring geosciences closer to
the needs of people’. It liquidated academic geology in
Latvia, Lithuania, etc., but was not supported in Estonia
and we continued in the framework of the Academy of
Sciences. An opposite crisis concerning applied research
was created during the science reform in the 1990s by
a Swedish group of experts. Still, we accepted that, in
principle, the evaluators pushed us in the right direction –
we found that the extremes are farther off from the truth
than the midway. During the last decade, the personnel
of the IG has been ageing rather quickly, posing a risk
to the future of the institute. The primary reason for
such a situation is rooted in the new legislation (1994)
that permitted postgraduate studies only in university
institutes and not in those of the Academy of Sciences.
This surely was a political decision, made despite the
fact that these studies were highly efficient in the
Academy. A good example is the science personnel of
the IG, whose PhD degrees in a majority of cases were
achieved in the Academy of Sciences.
Geology is a relatively small field of knowledge in a
very wide and diverse group of natural sciences, but we
still have certain positive relationships that arise from
useful minerals and links to the economic development
of the country. We have high regard for co-operation
with not only applied geological and environmental
institutions, but also with various industrial establish-
ments, who make use of geological knowledge. The
Estonian science policy is oriented to excellence and the
IG is pursuing the same, which, of course, should not
mean neglecting applied research. In this context we
as representatives of the geological science are worried
about ever decreasing potential of the GSE to have a
positive influence on geological policy and on sustainable
use of minerals, including protection of reserves in the
framework of general nature conservation. There is no
need to look for any subjective faults, but the trend
should be changed by restoring the governmental
position of the GSE and its corresponding functions as
soon as possible.
The special issue of the EJES contains papers
covering a full range of topics reflecting current develop-
ments in geological research in the IG. Papers on the
early Palaeozoic and Holocene biostratigraphy, palae-
ontology and palaeogeography, which are traditionally
the most successful fields in the IG research, prevail,
but also innovative pieces of studies in Precambrian and
isotope geology, in geochemistry and hydrogeology are
included. For example, K. Ehrlich et al. discuss the
crystallization temperature regime of the Proterozoic
volcanic rock samples from Suursaari Island, Gulf of
Finland, using the Ti-in-quartz method. The authors
assess that the temperature was in the range of
ca 650–740 °C.
O. Hints et al. discuss an integrated Middle Ordovician
conodont–chitinozoan biostratigraphy, the temporal
resolution of which probably reaches 0.1 Ma in the
upper Darriwilian of Baltoscandia. H. Pärnaste and
V. Viira review the correlation problems related to the
base of the Floian Stage, Lower Ordovician, which
might be problematic without detailed conodont bio-
stratigraphy. V. Nestor summarizes her earlier studies
about the Silurian chitinozoan biozonation with a new
generalization.
The contributions by L. Hints about new Hirnantian
brachiopods and M. V. H.
Wilson and T. Märss redes-
cribing a famous thelodont are good examples of classical
systematic palaeontology forming an essential basis for
analysis of animal evolution, palaeobiodiversity and
-biogeography. Papers by D. Kaljo et al. and T. Kiipli et
al. demonstrate possibilities of carbon isotope chemo-
stratigraphy and bentonite geochemistry integrated with
biostratigraphy in environmental interpretation of geo-
logical processes and phenomena.
I. Grudzinska et al. discuss the history of the Baltic
Sea basin over the last 4000 years, using diatom
composition, lithostratigraphical evidence and AMS
radiocarbon datings. T. Alliksaar and A. Heinsalu recon-
struct past changes in the lake-water pH and total
phosphorus through the last centuries from a small
lake in southern Estonia, using quantitative models
on sedimentary diatoms. The study highlights the
importance of the applied role of sediment studies for
lake management activities. A. Marandi et al. tune a
simple model to understand the hydrogeological regime
of the Voronka groundwater body in NE Estonia and
discuss the groundwater management problems for the
region.
Most of the papers are contributions to international
co-operation programmes. Publication of this special
issue was financially supported by the Institute of
Geology at Tallinn University of Technology. The editors
thank all contributors and the reviewers.
Atko Heinsalu, Olle Hints, Dimitri Kaljo
Editors