LUOMUS

Finnish Museum of Natural History

Earth History and History of Life

The Earth is a living planet that has formed from lifeless gas and mineral dust. During its colourful history, it has accumulated a hydrosphere and a biosphere in addition to its atmosphere and lithosphere. Geological and palaeontological research tries to understand the formation and development of Earth's spherical structure and the interactions between different spheres over a timespan of over 4.5 billion years in a super system, where the movement of the plates and volcanic action in the lithosphere change the living conditions and the development of the biosphere. The Earth's rock and mineral world and the diversity of its organisms have developed concurrently and in interaction with each other.

Geological and Palaeontological research at Luomus focuses on:
  • Continental drift
  • Dating of the Earth evolution
  • Early evolution of reefs
  • Environmental catastrophes of the past
  • Evolution of the early Earth
  • Minerals as archives of geological processes
  • Volcanoes and magmatic systems
  • Volcanic supereruptions

Currently, there are three active research projects:

Hekla volcano in Iceland. Image: Luomus / Jussi Heinonen

Person in charge of the page: 
Arto Luttinen, Björn Kröger
3.4.2014