Valerian Domger

Valerian Alexandrovich Domger (; 1851 – ) was a geologist and mining engineer of the Russian Empire in the 19th century.

Early life and education Born in 1851 in the Russian Empire.

In 1868, he graduated from the Chișinău Governorate Gymnasium, where he studied together with psychiatrist .

In 1873, he graduated from the Mining Institute.

Career He was then seconded for one year to the disposal of the manager of the mining and salt departments of the Don Host Oblast for practical training. He visited mines and metallurgical plants of the and the Yekaterinoslav Governorate, compiled a detailed description – in geological, technical and economic respects – of the Grushevskoye deposit and the mine of the Russian Society of Shipping and Trade.

In 1874 he returned to Saint Petersburg; from November he was enrolled in the Main Mining Administration and sent to Odessa, to the plant of the Russian Society of Shipping and Trade, to study briquetting.

In 1875, on the instructions of the Mining Department, he investigated the territory between the Dnieper and Inhul rivers in the Yekaterinoslav Governorate with the aim of finding outcrops of iron ore and other minerals.

In the summer of 1876, in the Oryol and Kursk Governorates, he investigated and described deposits of the Devonian and Cretaceous systems and assembled a palaeontological collection of the region.

In 1876 he accompanied on his trip along the line of the under-construction , taking part in geological investigations of the adjacent area.

In 1877, on the instructions of the Mining Department, he conducted geological surveys along the line of the Ural Mining Railway, compiled a detailed geological map of the studied area, drew a profile of the railway line, and collected a rich body of material on the palaeontology of this region.

In 1878 he carried out geological work along the line of the under-construction Donetsk Railway in Bakhmut and Slavyanoserbsk uyezds of the Yekaterinoslav Governorate and a small part of the Don Host Oblast.

From April 1882 he was a junior geologist of the Geological Committee (Geolcom). He participated in compiling the general geological map of the Russian Empire. In the summers of 1883 and 1884 he conducted geological investigations within sheet 47 of the map, an area of about 13,000 square versts in Verkhnedneprovsk and Yekaterinoslav uyezds of the Yekaterinoslav Governorate, in Kherson and Aleksandriya uyezds of the Kherson Governorate, as well as along the line of the under-construction Catherine Railway. In the summer of 1883 he discovered manganese ore near the Solona River.

Scientific activity

In the Yekaterinoslav Governorate he discovered rich deposits of millstone sandstone, kaolin and graphite; he investigated and described outcrops of crystalline rocks of this area.

In the Eocene deposits of the Tertiary system he found traces of a rich and diverse fauna.

He discovered remains of nummulites, previously known only in the Crimea.

In Palaeogene remains of the Tertiary system he found an oyster bank composed of valves of a previously unknown species Ostrea callifera and a layer filled with ostracods; in Pliocene deposits – remains of extinct vertebrates Rhinoceros and Mastodon.

Membership in organisations

In 1876 (or 1877) he was elected a full member of the St. Petersburg Society of Naturalists. In 1878 he was elected a full member of the Imperial Mineralogical Society.

Death He died on in Saint Petersburg.

Selected works Books

(2nd ed.). St. Petersburg. 1896. p. 285

Journal articles