In the Yalguba lands in Karelia, where traces of volcanic eruptions have been known for more than a hundred years, surprising spherical lavas were discovered during the construction of the Yalgora ski resort. These lavas, which are approximately 2 billion years old, contain ancient oil. Researchers from the Institute of Geology of the Karelia Science Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences reveal how oil can survive in lava.
The distribution of basalts, rocks formed from lava, demonstrates the scale of ancient volcanic activity in the Prionezhsky region of Karelia. The discovery of these rocks in the vicinity of Yalguba and in the Solomenny microdistrict of Petrozavodsk is associated with the work of geologist Franz Levinson-Lessing more than a hundred years ago. But they were discovered under the sand layer only a few years ago during the construction of the ski resort.
Detailed microscopic studies and analyzes have shown that the carbon in Yalgora pillow lavas is of biogenic origin. These are ancient hydrocarbons, oil, miraculously preserved in basaltic melts. Scientists plan to conduct further research to understand the mechanism of carbon capture and its interaction with magma, revealing the secrets of the processes that occurred in the early stages of the Earth.
Source: Ferra
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
