May 25, 2026. On May 21–22, 2026, the Exolith 2026 Conference was held in an in-person and online format at the Geophysical Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The organizers were the Lithology Section of the Moscow Society of Naturalists, the Scientific Council on Problems of Lithology and Sedimentary Minerals at the RAS Department of Earth Sciences, and the GC RAS.

Corresponding Member of RAS Viktor Tatarinov, Deputy Director for Science of the GC RAS.

The conference started with welcoming speeches by Corresponding Member of RAS Viktor Tatarinov, Deputy Director for Science of the GC RAS, and D.Sc. Yuliana Rostovtseva, Chair of the Lithology Section and Principal Research Scientist at the GC RAS.

The meeting was marked by an initiative to create a lithological code. To date, a significant number of terminological discrepancies have accumulated in lithology.

"If everyone understands and uses the same term differently, it is very difficult to reach an agreement and compare results. The goal of creating methodological recommendations is to enable scientists to speak the same language and to allow their scientific results to be compared," commented Yuliana Rostovtseva.

During the conference, scientists presented over 40 reports. They highlighted the results of research on sedimentary rocks, as well as methodological issues.

"At this unique meeting, professionals engaged in fundamental lithology gather," commented D.Sc. Marina Tugarova, a speaker and moderator of one of the sessions, and Principal Research Scientist at the All-Russian Geological Research Institute of A. P. Karpinsky. "This is the circle of specialists who are ready to discuss very complex methodological and fundamental scientific issues. This is the value of this conference; it is what makes it different from all the others. I would like to express my gratitude to Yuliana Valeryevna Rostovtseva for her selfless efforts in organizing these meetings for many years. We very much hope for an anniversary meeting next year."

Photo credit by: Nikita Lykov.

Following the conclusion of the Exolith 2026 Conference, Yury Yashunsky, a member of the Lithology Section and a Leading Researcher at the Geological Institute RAS, conducted a one-day field excursion to the Domodedovo quarry. The quarry exposes carbonate deposits from the Middle and lower Upper Carboniferous, overlain by Middle Jurassic clays.

This year, the Exolith 2026 Conference was dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the birth of D.Sc. Oleg Yapaskurt (1936–2016), a researcher in the field of sedimentary formations and mineral resources, Chairman of the Sedimentary Rocks Section of the Moscow Society of Naturalists, Head of the Department of Lithology and Marine Geology at the Faculty of Geology of Lomonosov Moscow State University, and Chairman of the Scientific Council on Problems of Lithology and Sedimentary Minerals under the RAS Department of Earth Sciences.

The Moscow Society of Naturalists is one of the oldest natural science societies in Russia, historically connected to Lomonosov Moscow State University. Its Lithology Section was organized on the initiative of Professor Mikhail Shvetsov in 1944. The section organizes discussions on problems of modern lithology; its participants develop new approaches to the study of sedimentary rocks, examine issues related to the effective use of fundamental lithological knowledge in applied research, and much more.