Boris Sergeyevich Sokolov (; April 9, 1914 – September 2, 2013) was a Russian

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

and

paleontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

. Sokolov authored reference works on the

stratigraphy Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers (strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithost ...

of Eastern Europe, in particular the fossil

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

records, and created the concept of ''Vendian period'', currently recognized as largely overlapping, but not fully equivalent to

Ediacaran The Ediacaran ( ) is a geological period of the Neoproterozoic geologic era, Era that spans 96 million years from the end of the Cryogenian Period at 635 Million years ago, Mya to the beginning of the Cambrian Period at 538.8 Mya. It is the last ...

Biography

Sokolov, the son of a village feldsher (medic), was born in Vyshny Volochyok. In 1931 he moved to

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

and became an apprentice electrician. A blue-collar work experience was a prerequisite for admission into the university. After a year of work Sokolov was allowed to enroll at the Department of Geology and Soil Sciences of Leningrad University. He graduated with honors in 1937 and remained there to take a course of postgraduate studies. Sokolov's early work concentrated on the

of the Russian Platform, in particular the diagnostics of fossil

s for the identification of

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a Geologic time scale, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era that spans 60 million years, from the end of the Devonian Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the ...

period deposits.Dobretsov et al. Shortly before the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Sokolov was appointed to lead a Soviet field research company in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. After two years of field work in

Tian Shan The Tian Shan, also known as the Tengri Tagh or Tengir-Too, meaning the "Mountains of God/Heaven", is a large system of mountain ranges in Central Asia. The highest peak is Jengish Chokusu at high and located in Kyrgyzstan. Its lowest point is ...

, the Turpan Depression and

Tarim Basin The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Xinjiang, Northwestern China occupying an area of about and one of the largest basins in Northwest China.Chen, Yaning, et al. "Regional climate change and its effects on river runoff in the Tarim Basin, Ch ...

(1941–1943) he returned to Soviet Central Asia to search for

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

deposits on the northern side of Tian Shan. In 1945 he returned to Leningrad to complete his postgraduate thesis on Chaetetida, based on his pre-war studies. In 1950 he published ''Chaetetida of the Carboniferous Period'', followed by five reference volumes of ''Paleozoan Tables'' (1951–1955). These works earned him his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

. A revised edition, included in the 16-volume ''Foundations of Paleontology'', was awarded the State Prize for 1967.Dobretsov et al. In the early 1950s Sokolov joined a group of geologists tasked with the analysis of recent deep boring samples. Sokolov discovered what he believed was a hitherto unknown geographical layer preceding the

Cambrian The Cambrian ( ) is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 51.95 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran period 538.8 Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Ordov ...

, which he called ''Vend'' (''Vendian Period''). The name ''Vend'' appeared in his papers from 1950; in 1952 academician Alexander Vinogradov endorsed Sokolov's theory and ''Vend'' appeared on Soviet geological charts as an independent period.Dobretsov et al. In 1958 Sokolov accepted an invitation to join the newly formed Siberian Division of the Academy of Sciences as a corresponding member, and moved to

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...

. Together with Vladimir Saks (1911–1979) Sokolov created a new Siberian school of stratigraphy and paleontology, which survived into the 21st century as the Institute of Oil and Gas Geology. Sokolov continued production of geological references, but eventually concentrated on his theory of the transition from Vendian (Ediacaran) biota to Cambrian, which he believed was critical to our understanding of evolution. He coined the Russian term for ''

Precambrian The Precambrian ( ; or pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pC, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of t ...

Paleontology'' (Палеонтология докембрия), which evolved into a separate branch of science.Dobretsov et al. Sokolov was elected to full membership of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in 1968, and headed the Department of Geology of the Academy from 1975 to 1987, the longest tenure since the establishment of the Department. He chaired the International Stratigraphic Commission and the International Paleontology Association from 1972 until his death, and the national Paleontological Society from 1974 until his death. In 1998 Sokolov became the first geologist to be awarded the Lomonosov Gold Medal.Dobretsov et al.

Footnotes

References

* N. Dobretsov et al. (2004, in Russian).
Академик Борис Сергеевич Соколов
''. Nauka v Sibiri, No. 14 (2450), April 9, 2004. Retrieved October 31, 2010. *
The 95th Birthday of Boris Sergeevich Sokolov
'. Stratigraphy and Geological Correlation, Volume 17, no. 2 (April 2009), pp. 113–116. . Translated from a Russian editorial in ''Stratigrafia i geologicheskaya korrelacia'', 2009, vol. 17 no. 2, pp. 3–6. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sokolov, Boris Sergeyevich 1914 births 2013 deaths People from Vyshny Volochyok Russian geologists Russian paleontologists Full Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Full Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences Soviet geologists Soviet paleontologists Burials in Troyekurovskoye Cemetery