Lucknow:

From a 65-million-year-old fossil of a frog to a 5carat pure diamond and from a giant natural pearl from Basra to a recently formed basalt rock from Barren Island, the only living volcano in India, the Geology department of the Lucknow University (LU) has added 550 new rare exhibits to its rich collection at the museum. The collection will be on public display from Earth Day on Friday.

Other items include fossils of a 1,600 million year old alga, Grypania Spiralasis, which marked the evolution of earth, polished quartz; a Corundum mineral which produces gems like ruby, blue and yellow sapphires; unpolished, uncut and polished forms of garnet mineral of hessonite species (popularly known as Gomed) and a gallery of Stone Age tools collected from Mirzapur.

“Established in 1943 by Palaeobotanist Birbal Sahni, the museum already has over 2,000 specimens. The 500 new entries will not only help in research and education but will also be an attraction for visitors, particularly school children. Most important part is it will create awareness among people to preserve the earth to safeguard life in future generation,” said Vibhuti Rai, professor and head of the geology department, who collected new items for the museum in past two years.

Along with fossils, new additions to the museum include postal stamps on gem stones, fossils of extinct species, geomorphic features, etc, released from time to time.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> Lucknow / TNN / April 22nd, 2016