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The Ruskeala Mining History Monument: State, Perspectives of Protection and Usage

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The Ruskeala Mining History Monument: State, Perspectives of Protection and Usage http://www.progeo.se NO. 4 2010 View on the lake of the Ruskeala main quarry from the tourist path. Photo of M.Vdovets The Ruskeala mining history monument: state, perspectives of protection and usage Marina Vdovets, Yuri Lyahnitsky, VSEGEI, Sredny pr., 74, 199106 Saint-Petersburg, Russia marble layers. The marbles are characterized by fine- grained structure and diverse coloration from dark-grey The Ruskeala marble quarries represent a mining his- to white, sometimes with green stripes and nests up to tory of Sweden, Russia, Finland, and Karelia. The a few centimeters wide. The total thickness of the pro- quarries are located in the Sortavala District (Republic ductive horizon is up to 600 m. Banded marble, cha- of Karelia, Russia), in the northwestern part of Ruskea- racterized by alternation of grey, almost black, green la village on the White and Green hills, named accord- and white stripes has the best decorative properties. ing to the colors of marbles, which formed them. The first exploitation of marble was conducted in the The Ruskeala deposits belongs to the Sortavala series end of the 17th century by Swedes, basically for pro- of the Lower Proterozoic and are composed of amphi- duction of construction lime, and less often for building bolites, amphibole and biotite-amphibole schists with foundations and walls in vicinities. http://www.progeo.se NO. 4 2010 Fig. 1. “The Italian quarry”. Photo: M.Vdovets In 1721, after the ending of the Northern war, this terri- It is known, that in the period 1770-1830 there were tory as provided by Peter I decree, was given to private extracted more than 200 thousand tons of marble on possession and populated with peasants from the cen- the site. However, old quarries working at that time are tral regions of Russia. The exploitation of marble had practically not preserved because their most part got in stopped, but according to a Catherine II decree, it was the operation zone of new larger quarries. renewed again in the second half of the 18th century. In the mid 18th-19th centuries, Ruskeala marble was In 1840, extraction of Ruskeala marble for Petersburg used for decoration of architectural constructions in was gradually reduced, and with the ending of the Saint-Petersburg, such as the Winter and Marble pa- building of the Isaac Cathedral it stopped. Some years laces, Isaac and Kazan cathedrals, Mikhailovsky Cas- later, marble extraction was renewed again, but not for tle, etc., as well as constructions in the city suburbs. the decorative-facing purposes. It was used for burning However the Ruskeala marble is insufficiently wea- of construction lime. The Ruskeala marble produced therproof, and will at use in external decorations need good lime which was applied for plastering walls and partial or full replacement after approximately in 50 - 60 ceilings of different constructions in cities and settle- years. During the first restoration of the the Isaac Ca- ments of the Southeast Finland (Makarikhin et al. thedral in 1870-1890, for example, many plates of 2006). Ruskeala marble were therefore replaced with inserts of more homogeneous pale - grey Italian marble. During the II World War, all works in Ruskeala marble quarries stopped, and the main quarry was flooded. After the ending of the war, the Ruskeala factory began to produce lime again, however not from the main quarry but from the new ones, exploited along the peri- phery of the deposit (Borisov 2007). In 1973 – 1985 decorative-facing marble was exploited from the quarries with the help of the Italian wire saw machines (Fig.1). After the necessary processing, blocks and plates from the Ruskeala quarries were used in many places of the former Soviet Union, for example as ornaments in underground halls of two metro stations in Saint-Petersburg. In the facing of the Primorskaya metro station, banded grey-green marble supplemented with bas-relief with marine symbols creates the impression of a northern seaport (Fig.2). The exploitation of the Ruskeala marble has pro- Fig 2. Metro station Primorskaya in Saint-Petersburg. Photo: M.Vdovets 2 http://www.progeo.se NO. 4 2010 The geosite status causes anxiety. First of all, unorga- nized tourism has a negative effect on it. So, for exam- ple, it is known, that in 2000, a group of tourists tried to blow up the "Italian" quarry where exploitation of de- corative marble was conducted with usage of Italian equipment. Besides, Ruskeala marble has in some places fractured zones that are caused, particularly, by application of blast-hole drilling during its extraction. The erosive processes caused by activity of water and ice promote destruction of rocks and formation of landslides. Thus, old quarries run gradually the danger of destruction and, finally they can be lost. Fig 3. Adit of the first underground horizon in the main In 1998, according to the Karelia’s Council of Ministers quarry. Photo: M.Vdovets Decree, the area of the Ruskeala quarries was as- signed the official status of a nature monument of re- ceeded up to now. During all period of operation, 11 gional significant. However, practice has shown that quarries were exploited there. without a rational usage of such a geosite, its official status as a protected area cannot provide its conserva- The Ruskeala quarries are partly flooded, and now tion. An economic basis for conservation and rational they look like water-filled steep-walled depressions. usage of geosites is the development of a regulated The main Ruskeala quarry is 460 x 100 m large and up tourist activity. Creation of nature-protecting excursion- to 50 m deep. As a result of its flooding, a picturesque tourist centres on the basis of geosites is one of pers- marble canyon with pure transparent water is what pective directions in this respect. For example, such a meet us today (Front page photo). The quarry walls center has already been set up on the basis of the tower 10-20 m above water. The western wall is stee- Sablino Complex Nature Monument by a group of ge- per than the eastern one, and has places with negative ologists and ecologists under the leadership of a mem- angles of dip. The walls of the main quarry are pene- ber of the Russian ProGEO group Yu. Ljahnitskiy. trated with whole systems of underground horizons – Necessary development and preservation of the geo- adits and drifts, connected by vertical pits (Fig.3). The site are carried out by means of regulated tourism. overall extent of the mines amounts to several kilome- ters. Fig 4.. Boating along the northern part of the main quarry lake. Photo: V.Vdovets 3 http://www.progeo.se NO. 4 2010 Currently, the area of the main quarry, named Fig. 5. Ice stalactites and stalagmites on the bottom of the "Ruskeala Mountain Park” is leased to a private per- gap. Photo. Yu. Lyhnitsky son. It was equipped and used for excursions. A foot- path is made around the main quarry as well as explosion in a small quarry, situated nearby. The en- through a short adit. The administration of the park trance to the gap represents a giant sink with a diame- provides an opportunity to hire rowing boats for sailing ter of about 20 m. The water level in the gap is approx- in the main quarry lake (Fig.3). Diving is also practiced. imately 8 m from the floor, and 6-8 m from the top. The That allows us to study the flooded drifts and explore gap is so spacious, that it can be traveled by boats. In the bottom. Extreme rides are also organized in order winter one can observes picturesque ice forms here to attract more tourists, but the level of security on (Fig. 5). Usage of such interesting object can be made them is still low and this can damage the reputation of only after its comprehensive examination and prepara- the park. tion of a professional plan of necessary facilities provi- sion for an underground tour route. At the moment, a The current situation with the use of the geosite is contract concerning the beginning of this work is being rather far from perfect. During excursions, insufficient negotiated with the Ruskeala Mountain Park lease- attention is paid to geology and underground mine holder. workings. Currently a team of researchers led by Yu. Lyahnitsky, is conducting exploration of underground The authors express their gratitude to Vladimir Maka- cavities and propose to develop a new modern design rikhikn for the consultation. of their equipment and use. They explore the "Ruskea- la Gap" - a unique object that represents a giant sun- References ken many-tier mine working. The gap is located near Borisov I.V. (2007) Geographicheskie osnovy sokhraneniya i ratcionalnogo ispolzovaniya unikalnykh tekhnogennykh kom- the main quarry, and after construction of necessary plexov Severnogo Priladoshzya (Geographic basis of the facilities it can be included into a tourist route. Arches preservation and rational usage of unique anthropogenic- of the upper hall about 100 m long are supported by 8 natural complexes in the Northern Ladoga Region) //PhD columns-pillars up to 12-16 m high and more than 10 author's abstract. SPb State University, Saint-Petersburg, p m thick. These large-scale underground workings, 22 (in Russian). where large monoliths of marble were extracted, was Makarikhin V.V., Medvedev P.V., Rychanchik D.V. (2006) exposed to the surface because of an unsuccessful Geological sites of Karelia. Karelia, Petrozavodsk, p.188. 4 http://www.progeo.se NO. 4 2010 Vikos-Aoos new European and UNESCO geopark and Lavreotiki aspiring geopark in Greece. Follow up of the Greek project “Designation of geosites-geoparks, contribution to sustainable development” funded with the 3rd Community Support Framework Irini Theodossiou-Drandaki, [email protected] The above mentioned project of the Institute of Geolo- gy and Mineral Exploration of Greece (IGME) was running from 2006 to 2009 and had the following aims Drakolimni geosite in vikos-Aoos geopark reflected in its sub-projects: 1 Identification, characterization, evaluation of geo- 14 areas have been initially defined with geoparks sites potential for further study, in the framework of the 2 Compilation of a Database and a Geographic In- project.
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