The Department of Geology and its divisions

The Department of Geology of the Faculty of Science includes Division of Geology and Paleontology and Division of Mineralogy and Petrography.

The Division of Geology and Paleontology is (temporary) situated at Horvatovac 102a, on floors 0 and –1 of the smaller (northern) building. Main classroom (–008) includes 48 sitting positions, while additional three smaller classrooms have 12 to 25 sitting places. Micropaleontological classroom includes microscopes for all present students, with additional possibility to use the Scanning Electronic Microscope. Our laboratory includes equipment for preparation of different types of thin-sections (nano and microfossils, sedimentology), sieves for separation of fossils and minerals, micromeritics sedigraph for particle size analysis and all-purpose drilling machine.

Geological and Paleontological collection is located on floor 0 of the Division of Geology and Paleontology. The collection is gradually being filled from the very beginning of teaching mineralogy and petrology at the University of Zagreb in the academic year 1875/76. It consists of about 4,000 rock and fossil specimens from almost all periods of the geological past. The oldest specimens date from the Precambrian. For each fossil sample, the name of the genus and / or species, location and age are given.

In 2020 the Division of Geology and Paleontology employed 12 teachers, two assistants (doctoral and postdoctoral) and six support staff (head of administration, professional and technical associates and a cleaner).

The Division of Mineralogy and Petrography is (temporary) situated on the second floor of the Department of Geophysics building at Horvatovac 95. Main classroom (MPZ-1) has 40 sitting places, while additional smaller classroom (MPZ-2) has 12 sitting places. Main classroom is also equipped with 12 polarizing microscopes for educational purposes i.e. student use. Division has four laboratories: 1) chemical laboratory which includes different equipment and chemicals for chemical analysis; 2) sample preparation laboratory with equipment for thin section preparation as well as planetary ball mill; 3) XRD laboratory with X-ray diffractometer and 4) IR laboratory with FTIR spectrometer. There is also one working station with a research microscope with camera and a computer.

Petrological collection consists of 700 specimens of igneous and metamorphic rocks and 400 specimens of sedimentary rocks. Mineralogical collection consists of 1800 specimens of minerals while collection of ore rocks consists of 200 specimens. All of these collections are being regularly updated and are used in teaching.

In 2020 the Division of Mineralogy and Petrography employed 10 teachers, 4 assistants (doctoral and postdoctoral) and five support staff (head of administration, professional and technical associates and a cleaner).

The Central Library of Geology is situated at the ground floor of the Department of Chemistry building at Horvatovac 102a, with part of it at the Division of Mineralogy and Petrography at Horvatovac 95. It is open primarily for students and scientific and teaching staff of the Department of Geology at the Faculty of Science, but it is also available for use by other students of the Faculty. Users have open access to the library fund, which covers relevant material from the wider field of geology, including paleontology, mineralogy, petrology, geochemistry, hydrology...