The snowy Polar Urals end of june [photo: Maurice de Graaf]
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Polar Ural
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The snowy Polar Urals end of june [photo: Maurice de Graaf]
The Polar Ural is the most northern part of the Ural. The term 'Polar Ural'
occurs on many mineral labels incorrectly. Officially the Polar Ural, or
Polyarni Ural is everything north of 65°N. The area just south of 65°,
where many alpine mineral localities are found, is called the Pripolyarni Ural,
or the Prepolar Ural. Both areas will be discussed in this chapter. I will use
the English 'Polar Ural' on this page to denote both area's.
The Polar Ural is the highest part of the Ural range, but still most mountains
are hilly. There are occasional rock faces in between. It is not so much the
mountains that make this area uninhabitable, but the climate and the lack of
roads. In the summer of 2003 I flew over the Polar Ural twice and while most of
northern Russia was free of snow and ice, the Polar Ural was still white, as the
picture above shows.
alpine paragenese
Many localities in the Polar Ural are of the so called alpine paragenese. So
this is the place to explain a little about alpine minerals. Alpine mineral
formation is a special kind of hydrothermal mineral formation. The
buildingblocks of the minerals precipitate from hot water, often under pressure.
Normally this water is derived from nearby magma and flows through cracks in the
rock. This yields the classic vein deposits, the type of many ore
deposits.
The Alpine Range is a large metamorphic zone. Italy moves north and the rocks
inbetween are comressed. This causes the mountains to be formed. The rocks are
compressed and altered metamorphically. A granite can for instance become a
gneiss. During this compression all kinds of crack occur in the rock, forming
cavities, or alpine clefts. Water present in the rock or meteoric water is
heated up by the pressure and starts circulating through the rock, picking up
all kinds of buildingstones from that rock. When the water reaches a cleft
crystals can freely grow. One of the most common building blocks is silica, so
quartz is present in almost all alpine clefts. The rest of the paragenese
depends largely on the type of rock in which the cleft is found. Gneiss will
yield a different paragenese than for instance amphibolite.
The alpine paragenese was first studied in the Alps, hence it's name. Later
similar conditions where found elsewhere. The best known alpine localities
outside the Alps lay in the Polar Urals.
geology
Arbyn'ya is a phosphorite deposit on the eastern slopes of the Ural. The deposit
is of devonian age. [V.P. Shatrov, 1992]
mineralogy
Gold
geology
Cheln Iz is located in the eastern zone's granite-gneiss belt.
mineralogy
Quartz Rutile
I know very little of this locality other than that Lazulite occurs here.
mineralogy
Actinolite Albite Allanite-(Ce) Almandine Anatase Ancylite-(Ce) Anglesite
Ankerite Arsenopyrite Azurite Biotite Boulangerite Brookite Calcite Cerussite
Chalcopyrite Chamosite Chrysocolla Clinochlore Clinozoisite Cobaltite Cosalite
Epidote Ferro-Axinite Fluorite Fluoroapatite Galena Goethite Grossular Hematite
Hemimorphite Ilmenite Kainosite-(Y) Magnetite Malachite Melanterite Meneghinite
Monazite-(Ce) Montmorillonite Muscovite Orthoclase Parisite-(Ce) Piemontite
Prehnite Pyrite Pyrrhotite Quartz Rectorite Rutile Schorl Smithsonite Sphalerite
Tetrahedrite Thomsonite-Ca Titanite Tremolite Xenotime-(Y) Zircon Zoisite
Arsenopyrite Brookite
Ferro-Axinite Fluoroapatite Hematite
geology
The Dolnozhdannyi waterfall is located near the Silova-Yakha river, Pay Khoy
Range on the Yugorsky peninsula. The locality consists of hydrothermal
quartz-carbonate veins in carboniferous sediments.
mineralogy
Calcite Quartz Sphalerite Sulvanite Turquoise Variscite Wavellite Yushkinite
Sulvanite
geology
Feiko Shor is a locality from the central zone, north of Dodo.
mineralogy
Rutile
Husoika
(Kusoika)
mineralogy
Actinolite Albite Ferro-Axinite
geology
Not suprising with such a name, this locality lays inthe granite-gneiss dome of
the eastern zone.
mineralogy
Hematite Montmorillonite Paragonite Rectorite Titanite
Not an alpine locality, but a rhodonite locality.
geology
Khasavarska is a little known alpine locality near the Kozim river. This
locality is situated in the eastern zone, the granite-gneiss dome. It is located
in the center of this zone, where amphibolite and epidote facies are occuring.
mineralogy
Ankerite Hematite Quartz (amethyst, Citrine) Svanbergite
The Kozhim river basin is mentioned as a Lazulite locality. The Lazulite occurrence is over 20km long and it is quite possible that other lazulite localities mentioned on this page are within this basin.
A well known locality for Anatase. Strangely not much more is known about this locality by me.
mineralogy
Anatase, Quartz
geology
The Levo-Kechpelskaya deposits is a group of deposits at the northwestern
contact zone of the ultra basic Voikaro-Syn'inskii massif. in the Polar Urals.
mineralogy
Jadeite, Nephrite
A Polar Ural locality of Lazulite.
geology
A locality of the central zone, located south of Piramida. The mineralogy I know
so far suggests we have a pegmatite here.
mineralogy
Florencite-(Ce) Monazite-(Ce) Xenotime-(Y)
geology
Marun Keu is not really a locality, but a complex, covering 100 km2
along the western edge of the main suture zone of the Uralian orogeny. Within the
Marun Keu occur outcrops of high pressure eklogite rocks. The eklogites
where formed in a subduction zone, but the reaction was not complete resulting
in the formation of hydrothermal quartz-phengite-rutile veins.
mineralogy
Cyanite Muscovite (var 'Fuchsite') Omphacite Pargasite (var Carinthitne) Pyrope
Quartz Rutile
Kyanite Muscovite
Omphacite
Pargasite
Pyrope
The Marun-Keu Metamorphic Complex, Polar Urals, Russia: Protolith Ages, Eclogite Facies Fluid-Rock Interaction and Exhumation History, J. Glodny et al.
Mun Hambo is best known as type locality for Tsaregorodsevite. In reality Mun Hambo, or Man Khambo is a range in which the true typelocality, Mount Yaruta is situated. So not a true locality!
I have doubts with this locality. Mount Neroika is a prominent landmark in the area. I think therefore that the minerals stated to be from Neroika are in reality from nearby Dodo. Nevertheless a list of minerals I encountered from 'Neroika'
mineralogy
Anatase Boulangerite Brookite Ilmenite Quartz Rutile Titanite
geology
Located in the eastern zone gneiss dome
mineralogy
Brookite and Quartz
geology
Flows in the Telpoz Iz massif.
mineralogy
Albite Chernovite-(Y) Piemontite Quartz Scheelite
geology
The Omega shor is located in the central zone close to Mount Neroika and Dodo.
mineralogy
Anatase Brookite Chabazite Monazite-(Ce) Titanite
mineralogy
Quartz and Rutile
A questionable locality. There is a Tsentralyi Parnuk and a Verkhnee Parnuk.
mineralogy
Bementite is known from "Parnuk", but I could not figure out if
Verrkhnee Parnuk or Tsentralnyi Parnuk is the true locality.....
geology
Located in the central zone of the Polar Ural.
mineralogy
Calcite Gold Phlogopite Pyrite Quartz Rutile Scheelite Stolzite Vanadinite
Pendity mine
The Pendity mine is located Pendity lake along the Balbanyu river.
mineralogy
Androsite-(Ce) Androsite-(La) Ardennite Chernovite-(Y) Xenotime-(Y)
Piramida is a much smaller locality than the better known ones like Dodo and Puiva. It's main mineralogy consists only of Quartz, but with nice incusions.
mineralogy
Brookite, calcite, Epidote, Florencite-(Ce), Ilmenite, Monazite-(Ce), Quartz,
Rutile and Schorl
geology
Pridoroshnoye is located in the center of the Chobink gneiss dome. The rocks at
pridorozhnoye contain (granite)gneiss, quarzite and amphibolite.
mineralogy
Allanite-(Ce) Anatase Biotite Brookite Chalcopyrite Clinochlore Dolomite Epidote
Fluoroapatite Ilmenite Magnetite Malachite Monazite-(Ce) Muscovite Orthoclase
Pyrite Quartz Rutile Titanite Xenotime-(Y) Zircon
Puiva is one the bigger alpine localities of the polar Ural. Puiva is located about 10km southeast of Mount Neroika.
mineralogy
Actinolite Albite Ancylite-(Ce) Anglesite Arsenopyrite Biotite Breithauptite
Chabazite-Ca Chalcopyrite Chamosite Chrysocolla Clinochlore Clinozoisite
Datolite Epidote Ferro-Actinolite Ferro-Axinite Fluorapophyllite Fluoroapatite
Gypsum Hematite Hemimorphite Heulandite-Ca Ilmenite Kainosite-(Y) Laumontite
Malachite Montmorillonite Muscovite Orthoclase Piemontite Pyrite Pyrophyllite
Pyrrhotite Quartz Rutile Smithsonite Sphalerite Stilbite-Ca Stilpnomelane
Synchisite-(Ce) Thomsonite-Ca Titanite Tremolite Ullmannite Zoisite
geology
The Pus'erka deposit is located in the Syum-Keu ultrabasic massif in the Polar
Urals.
mineralogy
Jadeite 'Nephrite'
mineralogy
Hematite and Quartz
geology
Rai Iz is a well known name and a true Polyarni Ural locality. The place gained
fame for it's great rubies. Rai-Iz itself is an ultrabasic massif, located
located between the settlements Polyarny and Charp, about 50 kilometers north of
the Arctic circle. Rai-Iz is an Dunite-Harzburgite massiv. Inside this complex
are metasomatite veins in which the rubies occur.Within the 300 x 100 meter
small Rai Iz massif are about ten such localities. Chromite from the massif is
the donor of the chromium in the ruby. The best known ruby locality within
Rai-Iz is called Rubinovoye.
The Karovoye deposit and Nyrdvomenshor are part of the Rai-Iz complex and known as a Jadeite/Nephrite localities.
mineralogy
Actinolite Andesine Anorthite Corund Magnetite Paragonite Pargasite
Phlogopite Pumpelyite-Al
 Pumpellyite-Al |
 Ruby |
mineralogy
Ilmenite Quartz Rutile
mineralogy
Actinolite Albite Elbaite Quartz
An alpine quartz mine east of Piramida.
geology
Syum-Keu is an ultrabasic complex in the Polar Ural. It consists of
Dunites and Pyroxenites.
mineralogy
Chromite Erlichmanite Irarsite Laurite Laurite Majakite Platinum Sperrylite
mineralogy
Albite Cassiterite Fergusonite-(Y) Ferrocolumbite Plumbopyrochlore Quartz
Thorite Zircon
mineralogy
Albite, Fluorapatite
A similar alpne quartz locality
mineralogy
Ilmenite Laumontite Quartz Rutile
mineralogy
Anatase Quartz Brookite Hematite Ilmenite Kaolinite Magnetite Monazite-(Ce)
Muscovite Rutile Titanite Schorl
geology
Vyrayusskoye is a manganese skarn deposit along the Malyi Patok river in the
Pripolyarni Ural.
mineralogy
Rhodonite
Type locality for tsaregorodsevite. The locality is situated in the Mun Hambo range.
mineralogy
Anatase Brookite Monazite-(Ce) Quartz Tsaregorodtsevite
mineralogy
Augelite Elbaite Magnesiofoitite Monazite-(Ce) Quartz Rutile
I'm trying to find more information on the following Polar Ural localities:
Kerelken, Kuz'puayu, Man Saran Shor, Man'ya Nell, Moika Tump, Novoye Molodjozhnoye, Padezha Vozh, Pedy, Podgornoye, Podgranichnoye, Ponyu, Severnaya Lapcha, Skalistnoye, Starik mountain, Suraiz, Tsentralnyi Parnuk, Vodorazdel'noye, Vysokoye, Yubileinoye, Zapadnaya Chus Joika, Zejka
references
Crystal bearing veins of the subpolar Ural, V.V. Bukanov, World of Stones
7
Genstones of the Timan-North Ural prvince, N.P. Yushkin, World of Stones 10
Dodo: Alpine Klüfte im Polar-Ural, E.V Burlakov, Lapis 3/95
Zur Mineralogie del Alpinen Klüfte im Pripoljanrnyj Ural, Rußland, E.V. Burlakov, Mineralienwelt 2/95
Puiva: Gwindel und Axinite aus dem Polar-Ural, E.V. Burlakov, Lapis 7-8/97
"Alpine" Bergkristalle von Piramida im Polar-Ural, E.V. Burlakov, Lapis 5/2001
Brookite aus dem Polar-Ural: Die große Kristallkluft vom februar 2003, E.V. Burlakov, Lapis 6/2001
Rutilquartz vom Obernen Parnuk im Polar-Ural, E.V. Burlakov, Lapis 6/2002
Die Mineralien der Alpin-Paragenese aus dem Nordural / Rußland, J. Hyrsl, Mineralienwelt 6/92
