During a 42 year period (1893-1935), the Swedish explorer Sven Hedin (1865 - 1952) led four expeditions to remote and inhospitable parts of Central Asia (Tibet, Xinjiang, Pamir). The rock collections from these expeditions are stored at the museum.
Along with collaborators he collected a diverse collection of ca. 3100 rock samples, including blueschists, mantle peridotites and serpentinites, granitoids, K-rich alkaline lavas, mylonites, and fossil-rich limestones.
A spreadsheet listing all the samples collected during Hedin´s first three expeditions (1893-1897, 1899-1902, 1906-1908) includes a brief sample description with additional information on the availability of thin sections.
Samples are cross-referenced with the geographical position of Hedin´s campsites indicated on maps published with his extensive reports. Most samples, and a number of thin sections, are available for loan.
The Hedin collection may be searched through Naturarv (filter on "NRM Mineralogy" and "Hedin").
Article
The Hedin petrological collections and the spreadsheet is described in some detail in the article:
Weinberg,F. W. and Green, O. R. (2002) The Central Asiatic (Tibet, Xinjiang, Pamir) petrological collections of Sven Hedin (1865-1952) — Swedish explorer and adventurer. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 20 (2002) p. 297-308.
For more information, please see Sven Hedins Expeditions