Overview

CONTRIBUTORS: TIIT KAASIK (Estonia), DAIGA PIPIRA (Latvia), TBC (Lithuania)

This seminar will provide an overview of current national geological exploration programs across the Baltic states. Representatives from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will introduce their respective programs’ approaches, priorities and ongoing activities. This overview will highlight similarities and differences in focus, methodology and strategic direction in each program. The session aims to foster larger regional understanding and dialogue, creating a basis for discussion on future collaboration, shared challenges and opportunities in Baltic basement research and resource exploration.

LECTURERS & WORKSHOP INSTRUCTORS: MATISS BRANTS, JÜRI PLADO, VIESTURS ZANDERSONS, DMITRIJS VOROBIJOVS

The Baltic Precambrian basement is hidden by a sedimentary cover which greatly limits the research possibilites. However, magnetic and gravity geophysics allows us to study it in various ways even through kilometers of rock layers. Magnetic and gravity geophysics are the main instruments used for drawing tectonic domain boundaries; they have guided and will guide many of the basement borehole locations; and modelling of magnetic and gravity anomalies allows to understand the size and shape of potential ore bodies. This seminar will provide an introductory lecture and a hands-on workshop on magnetic and gravity methods for Baltic Precambrian geologists. In the introductory lecture we open “the black box” of geophysics and explain the main principles behind magnetic and gravity methods. We show the many powerful applications for Baltic Precambrian basement – delineation of tectonic domains, guiding borehole placement and modelling ore bodies. But with a lot of power comes a lot of responsibility, so we also reveal the limitations and common pitfalls of these methods. In the workshop we take a deeper dive in magnetics specifically. First, we show the acquisition procedures for magnetic data on the field and rock magnetic susceptibility in the core shack. Then we move on to real magnetic data processing, visualization and interpretation. In the end, we preview more advanced methods. NB! Participants of the workshop will require a laptop.

LECTURER: KRISTER SUNDBLAD

This lecture will address some concepts, terms and names that frequently are used in Fennoscandian geological literature. The aim is to facilitate communication between scientists of different generations, experience and national background. The ultimate purpose is to promote geological correlations within Fennoscandia.

WORKSHOP GUIDES: GRAŽINA SKRIDLAITĖ, ALVAR SOESOO, SIIM NIRGI, JOHANNES VIND

This interactive workshop brings together geologists from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania and beyond to explore similarities and differences in crystalline basement rocks across the region. Short introductory talks before the workshop will present key rock types, their characteristics, and current interpretations based on existing data.

The main focus will be a hands-on session in the Arbavere drill core storage, where participants will work in small groups to examine selected Estonian basement drill cores. Rather than full core descriptions, the exercise will focus on targeted logging, observation, and comparison of key features such as texture, mineral composition, and alteration.

The workshop aims to encourage discussion on how similar rock units are described and classified in different countries, and to explore possibilities for developing a more consistent regional approach. Participants will also reflect on how these observations can be linked to broader geological patterns.