The paper presents 30-year results of small-scale mapping in Russia (1995–2025). There is a historical background for preparing the State Geological Map of the Russian Federation territory and its continental shelf at a scale of 1,000,000 (third generation); there are main stages of creating regulatory and procedural documents to compile and edit sheets of the specified geological map; the authors assess the issues requiring prompt solutions: organizational, financial, and methodological support, improving the map quality and predictive efficiency. The paper informs about the key results of implementing the Program to create the State Geological Map at a scale of 1,000,000 (third generation) as the major stage of exploring and improving the level of small-scale coverage of the country’s territory and its continental shelf, as well as developing digital mapping. The national geological and cartographic resource “Digital Twin of Russian Subsoil” contains a sheeted digital data set (248 topographic sheets) and allows planning medium-scale and large-scale geological survey and exploration work, updating integrated and review geological maps, and implementing the next stage of monitoring the specified geological map, which involves updating regularly maps within the single geological and cartographic model of the Russian territory and its continental shelf.

The paper outlines the first stage results of developing the Unified geological-cartographic model to technologically support State Geological Map (scale 1 : 1,000,000) monitoring of the Russian Federation territory and its continental shelf. The model integrates cartographic documents, serial legends, and explanatory notes, which contribute to the seamless coverage of the country’s territory. The multi-level data design, interserial correlation, and geological description formalization with hierarchical directory determine the Unified geological-cartographic model development. The technology includes structured arrays of digital geological information databases, plug-ins to download, analyze, and display them. Integration of digital geological resources and computer-assisted map monitoring in a unified user interface is outstanding. The data model allows forming multiscale-level geological maps and supports data succession, excluding conflicts and duplications. The project contributes to standardizing and updating geological information, with international standards and technological sovereignty considered. It is projected to develop the system for multiscale analysis, outlining prospective subsoil areas, computer-assisted map generalization. Domestically and globally, the novel industrial technology to monitor State Geological Map sets therefore corresponds to the nation-wide Unified geological-cartographic model. The model currently has 19 uploaded State Geological Map sets (scale 1 : 1,000,000, third generation) to monitor, which include 16 map types and diagrams, over 3.5 bn geological objects, and 110,000 mineral resource objects. The vast operating experience and new tasks upon monitoring facilitate further technology development.

The paper summarizes the Earth’s crust deep geophysical studies within the Russian territory and its continental shelf; the findings include a digital maps set containing the Earth’s crust thickness map, sediments thickness map, as well as diachronous basement topographic map and basement area map by anomalous potential fields datasets. Deep structure maps are applicable for creating geotectonic maps, with the Siberian Craton and adjacent folded areas exemplified. The Karpinsky Institute’s website locates the maps set designed as a digital information resource (GIS project); it can support the creation of new small-scale geological maps within the integrated and review mapping of the Russian Federation territory and its continental shelf.

Karpinsky Institute launched a Rosnedra-driven long-term program for the systematic geochronological, isotope, and geochemical study of geological complexes in Russia in order to mainstream modern laboratory and analytical data in geological exploration. The program involves isotope dating, studying the petrographic, petrogeochemical, isotope, and geochemical compositions of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. The first stage of 2022–2024 covered dating as well as a set of analytical studies in 500 base stations in fold-belt regions of Russia. The obtained findings contribute to promptly specifying regional correlation diagrams for magmatism and metamorphism, creating new geological maps, and updating current ones; they frequently led to significant progress in reconstructing the metallogenic evolution and geological history of regional development. The geochronological results of studying the intrusive rocks of the Kuznetsk Alatau and greenschist complex of the Western Sayan in the Altai-Sayan Fold Area serve as an example. The Passports finalize the work by summarizing the results of petrological, isotope, geochemical, and geochronological studies for each explored object in the program. The Supplementary Data section contains examples of Passports for intrusive, metamorphic, and sedimentary complexes.

The paper informs about the new third-generation geological mapping data at a scale of 1 : 1,000,000 in central regions of North-East Russia. There are new data on the Early Proterozoic, Pre-Vendian, and Pre-Devonian tectonic structures and igneous complexes. The Prikolymsky Terrane has an analogue of the Lower Proterozoic (Upper Karelian) Ulkan Series of the southeastern Siberian platform. The eastern margin of Siberia (in modern coordinates) is inferred to have developed mainly in an active, most likely island-arc, regime at least from the end of the Middle Riphean to the beginning of the Devonian.

The paper focuses on the problems of palaeogeography of the Bering Sea coastal shelf in the Neopleistocene–Holocene based on new geological and geophysical data obtained in 2021 by Karpinsky Institute during offshore operations, including 1,150 km of seismic profiling, side-scan sonar profiling, multibeam echo sounding, and underwater video observation. They identified local acoustic reflectors in the seismic records and associated them with marine isotope stages, which characterized and traced the distribution of five seismic units during the Pliocene–Quaternary time. A vibrating core and box corer sampled the deposits of all seismic units, except the oldest one. The analysis of seismic profiles traced the palaeogeographic development of the Bering coastal shelf dating from the Middle Neopleistocene. There were detected traces of six regressive phases in the Middle and Late Neopleistocene deposits, which apparently caused the Bering Isthmus Formation. The formation time of end-moraine ridges, including buried ones, was determined. In the Gulf of Anadyr, this is the end of the Middle Neopleistocene, in the Bering Strait — the second stage of the Upper Neopleistocene. There was established the amplitude of crustal subsidence (–60 m) in the eastern part of the Gulf of Anadyr in the Middle Neopleistocene.

The paper presents the history of the Norilsk Branch, a structural unit of the All-Russian Geological Research Institute of A. P. Karpinsky, which aims to create an advanced geophysical basement. There are examples of creating a geophysical basement, including a maps set of geophysical fields and their interpretation results, which determine geological mapping and solid mineral prospecting. The paper shows that the ground geological and geophysical work to verify anomalies should be an essential part of geological exploration involving additional site appraisal at a scale of 1 : 200,000.

The paper discusses new data from the regional metallogenic surveillance of the Russian Federation territory for porphyry gold-copper mineralization after the authors analyzing the distribution patterns of trace elements (REE+Y, Ti, Hf, U, Th, Pb) in accessory zircons. They correspond to their indicative geochemical parameters — Porphyry Indicator Zircons (PIZs): 1) Ce/Nd; 2) Eu/Eu*; 3) (Ce/Nd)/Y; 4) Dy/Yb; 5) (10000xEu/Eu*)/Y; 6) Th/U and 7) To C (Ti-in-zircon thermometer), which H. Pizarro et al. proposed to sort the granitoid complexes of different ages into potentially orebearing and barren. The SHRIMP-II secondary ion microprobe studied 317 samples belonging to 255 granitoid complexes. They relate to either intrusive complexes or separate granitoid massifs (or their separate intrusion phrases) as prospective for porphyry mineralization.
Most of the studied granitoid complexes were found to show a negative result, while only every eighth met the highest degree of productivity, when the values of all seven PIZs correspond to their reference values. The findings justify 15 new localities from the unlicensed subsoil fund out of more than 200 prospective sites, which will contribute to applying for new licenses in Russia.

The authors provide information on the structural and material features, as well as the main types of uranium and gold-uranium mineralization of the Baltic Shield. The paper specifies the geological composition, informs about the criteria and signs of mineralization, characterizes well-known gold-uranium objects, and assesses the predicted resources. The focus is on characteristics of hydrothermal-metasomatic transformations of the Ozerny site rocks in the Kuolajarvi ore cluster, their manifestation sequence, as well as the ore mineralization formation stages, composition of gold, uranium, and sulfide mineralization. There are data on the content of gold and elements of gold satellites in the ore-bearing zones of the Ozernoye and Lagernoye ore occurrences. The comparative analysis covers spatiotemporal patterns of the gold-uranium ore objects distribution in the Russian (Ozernoye, Lagernoye, Alim-Kursujarvi ore occurrences) and foreign parts of the Baltic Shield (Juomasuo, Konttiaho, Rompas deposits). This highly evaluates prospects of the Kuolajarvi ore cluster for identifying gold-uranium deposits. The data on the age of the ore-hosting metasomatic rocks and uranium mineralization of the Ozernoye occurrence evidence the multi-stage formation of the ore mineralization. It is recommended to continue studying the Early Proterozoic structures in order to identify the scale of gold-uranium mineralization and create an ore-genetic model of its formation.

There is a novel study of typomorphic features of picroilmenites, pyropes, and spinelides from the alluvium of the Legkiy Creek’s upper reaches, the right tributary of the Nalim-Rassokha River. Presence of a new kimberlite field in the Anabar Massif, in the basin of the Nalim-Rassokha and Ulakhan-Staraya rivers, confirms Krasnoyarsk geologists’ arguments (1984). Characteristic surfaces of mineral associations prove to pertain to the primary halo of kimberlite indicator minerals. Picroilmenites comparable to inclusions in diamonds and diamond-bearing peridotites are absent in the alluvium of the Bolshaya Kuonamka and Bargydamalaakh rivers draining non-diamond-bearing kimberlite fields. The quantitative ratio of pyropes of lherzolite (86 %) and dunite-harzburgite (11 %) parageneses is typical of kimberlites. The spinelides association originates from deep ultramafic rocks and the groundmass of kimberlites. There are grounds for discovering a new Rassokha diamond-bearing kimberlite field in the Anabar Massif, in the basin of the Nalim-Rassokha and Ulakhan-Staraya rivers.

The Karpinsky dynasty of Russian geologists, whose activity relates to the foundation of the Geological Committee’s own library, contributed greatly to replenishing its stocks. The paper reports on the books included in the personal libraries of the Karpinsky dynasty: Aleksandr M., Petr M., Mikhail M., and Aleksandr P. The focus is on their autographs and bookplates. The bookplate of M. M. Karpinsky is found on Guide to Teaching Mineralogy by P. F. Goryaninov, P. J. F. Turpin’s publication on microscopic observations of organic bodies, and his own paper On Gold Placers. The books by Ya. G. Zembnitsky (on the systematic determination of fossil plants) and P. F. Goryaninov have M. M. Karpinsky’s dedicatory inscriptions; I. L. Defrance’s publication about fossil organic bodies presents his autograph. There are demonstrated A. M. Karpinsky’s dedicatory inscriptions on the treatise of geognosy by J.-Fr. d’Aubuison de Voisin and on P. M. Karpinsky’s own paper revealing the remains of edestids. The collection of the Russian Geological Library founded through A. P. Karpinsky’s efforts contains these publications.