Nicolai Ivanovich Andrusov (russian: Николай Иванович Андрусов, Nikolay Ivanovich Andrusov; 19 December 1861 – 27 April 1924) was a Russian Empire born

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

, stratigrapher, and

palaeontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

. He was born in

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

, then a part of the Russia Empire. He studied

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...

and

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

at the Novorossia University in Odessa. He then traveled across the Russian Empire and central Europe to collect

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

specimens. The

Challenger expedition The ''Challenger'' expedition of 1872–1876 was a scientific program that made many discoveries to lay the foundation of oceanography. The expedition was named after the naval vessel that undertook the trip, . The expedition, initiated by Wil ...

of 1872–1876 studied processes of the sea floor. In 1889 Andrusov published a review of this expedition in Gornyi zhurnal (Mining Journal). He would later perform studies of the geology and sediments of the Ponto-Caspian steppe. In 1890-91 he participated in a deep water expedition to the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

by the Russian Geographical Society. This expedition discovered

hydrogen sulfide Hydrogen sulfide is a chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless chalcogen-hydride gas, and is poisonous, corrosive, and flammable, with trace amounts in ambient atmosphere having a characteristic foul odor of rotten eggs. The unde ...

in the lower portions of this sea. Andrusov was the first to propose that this substance was created by biological decomposition of life forms (

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among ...

) containing sulfurous compounds. He was married to Nadezhda Genrikhovna Schliemann in 1899, the daughter of

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

Heinrich Schliemann Johann Ludwig Heinrich Julius Schliemann (; 6 January 1822 – 26 December 1890) was a German businessman and pioneer in the field of archaeology. He was an advocate of the historicity of places mentioned in the works of Homer and an archaeologi ...

. In 1905 he became a professor at the

University of Kyiv Kyiv University or Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv ( uk, Київський національний університет імені Тараса Шевченка), colloquially known as KNU ...

. In 1914 he became a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He emigrated to France in 1920 due to illness. In 1919 he learned about the death of his elder son, and suffered a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

which resulted in

paralysis Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 50 ...

of a leg and an arm. His relatives decided to move him to Paris, where he had an inheritance from his

father-in-law A parent-in-law is a person who has a legal affinity with another by being the parent of the other's spouse. Many cultures and legal systems impose duties and responsibilities on persons connected by this relationship. A person is a child-in-law ...

. In 1922 he moved to

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

due to material difficulties, where he died in 1924. His son Dimitrij Andrusov became a notable geologist and a member of the

Slovak Academy of Sciences The Slovak Academy of Sciences ( sk, Slovenská akadémia vied, or SAV) is the main scientific and research institution in Slovakia fostering basic and strategic basic research. It was founded in 1942, closed after World War II, and then reestab ...

. The

wrinkle ridge A wrinkle ridge is a type of feature commonly found on lunar maria, or basalt plains. These features are low, sinuous ridges formed on the mare surface that can extend for up to several hundred kilometers. Wrinkle ridges are tectonic features cr ...

Dorsa Andrusov Dorsa Andrusov is a wrinkle ridge system at in Mare Fecunditatis on the Moon. It is 160 km in diameter and was named after Soviet geologist Nicolai Ivanovich Andrusov in 1976 by the IAU.Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

is named after him, as well as the Mid-Black Sea High - Andrusov Ridge.

References

External links

*
Bio, in Ukrainian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrusov, Nicolai Ivanovich 1861 births 1924 deaths Geologists from the Russian Empire Explorers from the Russian Empire Scientists from Odesa Andrusov, Nicolai Full members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Full Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1917–1925) Soviet emigrants to France French emigrants to Czechoslovakia

References

Further reading

External links