Division

The Laboratory was established in 1953 by Prof. Valentina Georgievna Tkachuk, Dr. Sci. (Geol.-Min.). The establishment of Laboratory marked the beginning of systematic research on the underground hydrosphere of East Siberia.

In 1953-1960, the regional studies, hydrogeological mapping and mineral water research were performed. In 1961-1979 (Laboratory chief E.V. Pinneker), the studies were conducted with genesis and formation of mineral waters including concentrated brines, groundwater runoff, and some applied research was performed on hydrogeological environment of the Baikal-Amur Mainline Railway zone. Other lines of research were hydrogeology of mineral deposits, search for mineral and fresh groundwater deposits, and isotope hydrogeology.

In 1980-1984, the research team headed by E.V. Pinneker prepared and published six-volume set “Basic hydrogeology”. For this work, E.V. Pinneker, B.I. Pisarsky and I.S. Lomonosov were awarded the State Premium of the USSR. Two volumes of this unique set were republished in England and Germany.

In 1979-1995, the hydrogeological studies were conducted by two laboratories (laboratory chiefs E.V. Pinneker, Corr. Mem. RAS and B.I. Pisarsky, Prof., Dr. Sci. (Geol.-Min.)) that merged into one structural unit in 1995. At that time, the main line of research was to study role of water in geological processes and trends in groundwater formation. The obtained scientific results allowed the Laboratory to stay connected to global success.

In 2001, S.V. Alexeev, a follower of E.V. Pinneker, was appointed the new chief of the Laboratory. Under his guidance, the Laboratory team participated in realization of scientific projects “Mass and energy exchange in the underground hydrosphere of East Siberia and Mongolia and “Evolution models of natural, natural and man-made hydrogeological and engineering-geological systems in the regions with contrast climatic conditions and geological-structural setting”. It allowed the elaboration of the system of representation the geological results of perennial cryogenesis of hydrogeological systems and became a qualitatively new step in the theory of the Quaternary development of permafrost and underground hydrosphere. Under the guidance of B.I. Pisarsky, the Laboratory researches compiled and published the maps of mineral waters of Mongolia (scale 1:2 500 000 and 1:5 000 000) whose legend was first to contain recommendations on the use of mineral waters for the treatment of various diseases.

Presently the researchers aim to make a quantitative assessment of the processes occurring in the crust-basic system “water-rock-gas-organic matter”. The Laboratory works are among the priorities for fundamental and applied research SB RAS, supported by RFBR and performed within interdisciplinary and integration projects and under economic contracts.

The research-organization activity of the Laboratory is associated with the Commission of Ac. Sci. USSR on studying ground waters of Siberia and the Far East (1959-1991), Siberia and Far East section of the Russian Ac. Sci. Scientific Council on geoecology, engineering geology and hydrogeology, and holding numerous regional and all-Russian meetings.

The Laboratory team works in cooperation with the laboratories of the institutes SB RAS and higher education establishments of Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Tomsk, Tyumen, Ulan-Ude, Chita and Yakutsk, and cooperates closely with the scientists from Germany, Canada, Mongolia, USA, and France. Hydrogeological disciplines have been taught for years at the Irkutsk State Technical University and Irkutsk State University, the courses of lectures are delivered at the leading higher education institutions in Russia and abroad, and specialists with highest qualification – candidates and doctors of sciences – are trained.

The prospects for developing Laboratory skills depend on existing and successful hydrogeological school founded by E.V. Pinneker, an outstanding researcher in underground hydrosphere.