The management of the Mátrai Erőmű Zrt. and lignite mine of Bükkábrány selflessly made the in situ examination of the unique assemblage and its environment by the experts of several scientific institutions possible. The Herman Ottó Museum of Miskolc, and Nature Reserves Ipolytarnóc Fossils of Bükk National Park got special permissions to cut and transport complete trunks from the remains of the forest for making further research and showing them to the general public.
Colleagues of the Herman Ottó Museum sawed four tree-trunks and transported them to Miskolc under the direction of research leader János Veres. The preservation of the trees was started here immediately with the coordination of Ferenc Bánfalvy, head of department, tree restorer. At the same time, the idea of establishing a new exhibition area, which would introduce the age of the trees, that is the geological Miocene age (23-5.3 mya) was born. Opening of the “Pannon Sea Museum” on 20th November 2013 created an opportunity to re-establish the natural history collection, which was terminated in 1950, under the name of Pannon Sea Repository of Geological and Natural History. With the formation of the repository, the museum set the goal of collecting, researching, preserving and regularly displaying of geological and paleontological memories of the tertiary and quaternary period.
Our mission
The main goal of the Pannon Sea Repository of Geological and Natural History is to collect, research preserve and regularly display geological and paleontological memories of the tertiary and quaternary geologic period.
In the past 65 million years, several of our economically important raw material formed in the Pannonian Basin. We can reckon for example coal formation, starting in boggy, swampy areas, ore genesis that can be connected to volcanism or the huge freshwater resources that lays in the deep. With describing, examining and surveying such raw materials, phenomena and processes, we would like to contribute to get to know our remote past in greater detail, and to more reasonable economic utilization of the environment.
Our observation area in a narrow sense is Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, but as the processes do not know county borders and frontiers, it extends over the whole Pannonian Basin.
