Ivan Vasilʹevich Mushketov (; 1850–1902) was a famous

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, ...

, tectonist, explorer, and

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

from the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

Biography

Mushketov was born 9 (21 New Style) January 1850 in the Dango Cossack area of the Don region and entered

Saint Petersburg University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBGU; ) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the Great, the university from the be ...

in 1867, but soon transferred to the Mining InstituteP. K. (1902) "Obituary: Prof. I. V. Mushketoff". Nature 65:395–395. where he was a student of A. P. Karpinsky, and graduated from there in 1872.(1902) "Obituary: Professor Mushketoff" Geographical Journal, 19(4): 514–515. Upon graduation in 1872 he began his "continuous, almost uninterrupted explorations of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

" and China which included a 6-year term (beginning 1873) as a mining attaché to the Governor General of

Turkestan Turkestan,; ; ; ; also spelled Turkistan, is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and East Turkestan (Xinjiang). The region is located in the northwest of modern day China and to the northwest of its ...

. The areas visited in 1874-80 included the

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 ...

Pamir-Alay The Pamir-Alay is a mountain system in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, encompassing four main mountain ranges extending west from the Tian Shan Mountains, and located north of the main range of Pamir. They are variously considered part of ...

, Ural,

Dzungarian Alatau The Dzungarian Alatau (, ''Züüngaryn Alatau''; ; , ''Jetısu Alatauy''; , ''Dzhungarskiy Alatau'') is a mountain range that lies on the boundary of the Dzungaria region of China and the Jetisu, Zhetysu region of Kazakhstan. It has a length of ...

Ferghana Fergana ( uz-Latn-Cyrl, Fargʻona, Фарғона, ), () or Ferghana, also Farghana is a district-level city and the capital of Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan. Fergana is about 320 km east of Tashkent, about 75 km southwest of ...

, and

Seraf Shan A seraph ( ; pl.: ) is a celestial or heavenly being originating in Ancient Judaism. The term plays a role in subsequent Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Tradition places seraphim in the highest rank in Christian angelology and in the fifth r ...

mountains, the

Turan Turan (; ; , , ) is a historical region in Central Asia. The term is of Iranian origin and may refer to a particular prehistoric human settlement, a historic geographical region, or a culture. The original Turanians were an Iranian tribe of th ...

Valley and the

Samarkand Samarkand ( ; Uzbek language, Uzbek and Tajik language, Tajik: Самарқанд / Samarqand, ) is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central As ...

Andijan Andijan ( ), also spelt Andijon () and formerly romanized as Andizhan ( ), is a city in Uzbekistan. It is the administrative, economic, and cultural center of Andijan Region. Andijan is a district-level city with an area of . Andijan is the most ...

region. These remarkable journeys resulted in numerous scientific papers, important geological maps including the first geological map of Turkestan (with S. D. Romanovsky), and corrected much in the traveler's reports of

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 1769 – 6 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, natural history, naturalist, List of explorers, explorer, and proponent of Romanticism, Romantic philosophy and Romanticism ...

and

Ferdinand von Richthofen Ferdinand Freiherr von Richthofen (5 May 18336 October 1905), better known in English as was a German traveller, geographer, and scientist. He is noted for coining the terms "Seidenstraße" and "Seidenstraßen" = "Silk Road(s)" or "Silk Route(s ...

. In 1877 Mushketov received his doctorate (thesis on the mountain area of

Zlatoust Zlatoust (; ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Ay River (in the Kama River, Kama drainage basin, basin), west of Chelyabinsk. Population: 181,000 (1971); 161,000 (1959); 99,000 ...

) and the same year was named an adjunct professor at the Mining Institute. He also taught at the Institute of Transport from 1882 and at the Women's Academy of St. Petersburg from 1892. Mushketov received the Konstantin Medal of the Imperial

Russian Geographical Society The Russian Geographical Society (), or RGO, is a learned society based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It promotes geography, exploration and nature protection with research programs in fields including oceanography, ethnography, ecology and stati ...

in 1880. He was a geologist from 1882 to 1897 with the Geological Committee of the State Geological Survey of Russia. From 1885 he was Director of the Department of Physical Geography of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society. In 1887 he investigated the aftermath of the Verny earthquake in Bashkiria (now

Bashkortostan Bashkortostan, officially the Republic of Bashkortostan, sometimes also called Bashkiria, is a republic of Russia between the Volga river and the Ural Mountains in Eastern Europe. The republic borders Perm Krai to the north, Sverdlovsk Oblast ...

). He also studied the area of

Astrakhan Astrakhan (, ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the Caspian Depression, from the Caspian Se ...

, mineral springs, salt lakes in Crimea, and organized regular observation of glaciers in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

. in 1898-99 he conducted the third survey of prospective routes for the Circum-Baikal Railway. Mushketov died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

in St. Petersburg on 10 (23) January 1902.

Works

* ''Mineral Riches of Russian Turkestan'' (1878) * ''Geological Map of Turkestan'' (with S.D. Romanovsky, 1884) * ''Turkestan'' (1886, 1906) * ''Physical Geology'' (1888, 1891) * ''Geological Prospects Along Circumbaikal Line'' (1904, 1910)

Remembrance

The Mushketov Glacier (Antarctica), Gora Mushketova (Antarctica) the Mushketov Glacier in the

mountain range, and Gora Mushketova (Mushketov Mountain, the Mountain Peak of the Vitim Tableland, Buriyatia) are named after him. He was the father of D. I. Mushketov, who, like his father, specialized in the geology of Central Asia and studied both earthquakes and glaciation.Yu. Ya. Solov'ev (2007) "On the 125th birthday of Dmitrii Ivanovich Mushketov (1882–1938)" Stratigraphy and Geological Correlation 15(4):443–448.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mushketov, Ivan Vasilevich 1850 births 1902 deaths 19th-century geologists Deaths from pneumonia in the Russian Empire 19th-century explorers from the Russian Empire Geologists from the Russian Empire People from Don Host Oblast Saint Petersburg Mining University alumni

Biography

Works

Remembrance

References

Further reading

External links