‘Ancient Russian Sea’ and ‘Black-and-White Depth’

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Last Updated on Monday, 14 February 2022 16:46

The Museum of the World Ocean continues its story about the ancient Earth and its forms of life. Many creatures may seem fantastic as if they have arrived from “extraterrestrial” worlds, however, our exhibitions may bring visitors closer to them. On the present-day territory of Ulyanovsk Oblast, on the right bank of the Volga River, there’s a unique place – the Undoria Geopark. This is a paleontological nature reserve, or a natural site, featuring a continuous chain of geological discoveries, revealing the Jurassic and Cretaceous layers. Cliffs of the Kuybyshev Reservoir demonstrate an amazing history of living beings that used to inhabit the area about 130 million years ago – marine reptiles were dominant in the Russia Sea, such as ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs and mosasaurs. The deep-sea and ocean floor was inhabited by numerous mollusks, including belemnites and ammonites. The fossils, discovered on the geopark territory and displayed at the exhibition, can move you dozens of millions of years back.

The exhibition ‘Ancient Russian Sea’ is on until the late March. These were scientists who made a dream come true in the 20 th century – to get into the deep-sea. The R/V Vityaz, which discovered the deepest point in the World Ocean and proved there was life, invites you aboard. From February 24 to late April, the exhibition ‘A Journey to the Seabed’ on board the legendary vessel is supplemented with photographs ‘Black-and-White Depth’. Black-and-white pictures feature diverse depths of the World Ocean, from 40 to 6,000 metres. The photographs were made on the R/V Vityaz and Mikhail Lomonosov at expeditions. This is a display about dark abysses of the world Ocean; it is amazingly stylish and deserves attention.