Ilmensky Nature Reserve
| Ilmen Nature Reserve | |
|---|---|
| Russian: Ильменский заповедник (Also: Ilmensky) | |
Ilmen Zapovednik | |
Location of Reserve | |
| Location | Chelyabinsk Oblast |
| Nearest city | Miass |
| Coordinates | 55°0′55″N 60°9′32″E / 55.01528°N 60.15889°E |
| Area | 34,380 hectares (84,955 acres; 133 sq mi) |
| Established | 1920 |
| Governing body | Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (Russia) |
| Website | http://igz.ilmeny.ac.ru/ |
Ilmensky Nature Reserve (Russian: Ильменский заповедник) is a Russian zapovednik (strict nature reserve) that was created by decree of Vladimir Lenin in 1920 as a mineralogical nature reserve. The reserve is situated just north and east of the city of Miass, in the Chebarkulsky District of Chelyabinsk Oblast. It is 20 km east of Taganay National Park and 75 km west of Chelyabinsk.
It is the type locality (i.e. local of discovery) of 17 minerals including ilmenite, cancrinite, amphibole-supergroup minerals (e.g., ferri-winchite and fluoro-richterite), rare-earth minerals (e.g., monazite-(Ce) and chevkinite-(Ce)), and niobium–rare-earth minerals (e.g., aeschynite-(Ce) and samarskite-(Y)). There have been over 400 mines in the area over the years. The reserve's geological museum is one of the largest in Russia.
The forest cover is pine and larch forest on low hills of the Ilmensky Mountains and foothill ridges on east side of the south Ural Mountains. The Ignatievka Cave with ancient cave paintings has been a branch of the reserve since 1983. Another branch is the archaeological site of Arkaim and its associated sites.