by Tursyn NISHANBAEV, Cand. Sc. (Geol. & Mineral.), Head of the Museum of Natural Science of the Ilmen State Reserve (Miass, Chelyabinsk Region) The first thing we should focus on when speaking about our Museum of Natural Science is a history of studies of the Ilmen Mountains: it is closely connected with the history of formation of our vast collection. It started over 200 years ago, when Russia and Europe learnt of the wealth and originality of the Southern Urals. TERRITORY AND LOCATION Today the Ilmen State Reserve is the oldest environmental state research institution making part of the RAS Ural Branch and one of the first natural reserves established in our country employing 29 research assistants, including 20 candidates of sciences. The reserve is located in the eastern foothills of Southern Ural to the east of Miass. The reserve was established under the Decree of May 14, 1920. The first open show collections of minerals and rocks were formed in 1925. Before 1936, the collections were exhibited on the summer terraces of the Mountain Station. In 1936, a wooden building was built for the Museum of Natural Science, which in 1990 moved to a new building with 6 halls of the total area of 2,050 m2. At present, it is one of the five leading mineralogical museums of Russia and possesses стр. 74 one of the biggest national biological dioramas. The museum keeps over 30,000 depository items, 9,000 items are exhibited. It is also an important regional educational center in the field of natural sciences, annually receiving more than 50,000 visitors. The present-day territory of the reserve covers the Ilmen Range extended for 40 km submeridionally with an absolute relief elevation of 747 m on the Ilmen-Tau Mountain. To the east, not far off, across a peat bog and a valley of the Nyashevka river, there is Kosaya Mountain famous for its veins--amazonite and granite pegmatites*. Here semiprecious stones and rare minerals were mine ... Читать далее