377 (Continued) 
Administrative Affiliation: Academy of Sciences, U.S.S.R. (1961) 
Selected Staff Members: 
I. P. Alimarin, Corresponding Academician (U.S.S.R.) 
V. Le Barsukov 
K. P. Florenskiy 
Vv. I. Kuznetsov, Corresponding Academician (U.S.S.R.) 
A. K. Lavrukhina 
Ye. S. Makarov 
D. P. Malyuga 
A. B. Ronov 
A. K. Rusanov 
D. I. Ryabchikov 
M. M. Senyavin, Doctor 
E. Ye. Vaynshteyn 
Yu. A. Zolotov 
Description: 
This institute developed from the Laboratory of Geochemical 
Problems imeni V. I. Vernadskiy about 1948. By 1957, it was reported to 
maintain 12 laboratories and had extended its fields of research to in- 
clude the geochemistry of isotopes. In this context, a beta spectrometer 
for studying radioactive elements was obtained from the Moscow Fizpribor 
Plant. Representative areas of research are the geochemistry of titanium, 
rubidium, hafnium, cesium, zirconium; formation of lanthanum, neodymium, 
praseodymium, and neptunium complexes; and determination of ore components 
such as uranium, boron, and germanium by oscillographic and spectrographic 
methods, Of special interest are their discoveries of new 83, Iris n 
and pes7 isotopes as fission products of gold bombarded by 660=Mev 
protons. They have also investigated the decay products of Erl6l, Tagged 
atoms have been used by their investigators to study the distribution of 
atoms in a d.c.-are plasma in air, argon, and helium. 
The Institute has collaborated with the Institute of Analytical 
Chemistry in developing methods for the analysis of impurities in semi- 
conductors. 
In 1958, K. P. Florenskiy organized and headed an 80-man expedition 
to study the Tunguska meteorite, which descended in Siberia in 1908; samples 
of the meteorite material and surrounding terrain were returned to Moscow 
for analysis. Also, in 1960, the Institute assisted in analyzing lead 
isotopes from fragments of a meteorite which fell near Yardymly in 
Adzerbaydzhan. 
Members of the Institute have participated in a number of confer- 
ences on analytical chemistry and isotope application. Typical books pro- 
duced by staff members concern the application of tracer atoms in analytical 
chemistry (1955); spectrophotometric and colorimetric methods of analysis 
