Russian Geomorphological School: 100 Years of Development

• Published in: Geography and natural resources 2020-11, Vol.41 (4), p.307-315
• Main Authors: Lopatin, D. V., Zhirov, A. I., Boltramovich, S. F.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cartography; Digital cartography; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth sciences; Economic Geography; Geography; Geomorphology; Landscape/Regional and Urban Planning; Morphometry; Natural resources; Schools; Systematics
• ISSN: 1875-3728; 1875-371X
• DOI: 10.1134/S1875372841040010

In connection with the recent centennial (2018) of Russian geomorphology, we examined the history of the origin and development of geomorphological knowledge in this country. We analyzed the main stages of the formation of national geomorphology: from the prehistory (17 th ‒18 th centuries) and the incubation period (19 th ‒early 20 th centuries) to an intense development in the Soviet period (most of the 20th century) and the modern stage. We distinguished the main driving forces of this process: the enormous size of the country and the corresponding diversity of landscapes, a high economic need for development of natural resources, and a need for effective systematization of knowledge in the field of Earth sciences. We also emphasized the continuity and close connection of the development of geomorphology in Russia/USSR and in other countries. Particular attention was paid to the Russian geomorphological schools concentrated in major educational and scientific centers in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Irkutsk, Kazan, Tomsk, etc. National researchers of these schools promote important scientific fields, such as structural geomorphology (morphotectonics), climatic (exogenous) geomorphology, geomorphological systematics and cartography, evolutionary geomorphology, morphometry, dynamic and engineering geomorphology, environmental, social geomorphology, etc. Separately, we mentioned the contribution to the Russian geomorphological science by famous scientists: P.A. Kropotkin, V.V. Dokuchaev, D.N. Anuchin, M.M. Tetyaev, Ya.S. Edelstein, I.S. Shchukin, K.K. Markov, S.S. Schulz, I.P. Gerasimov, Yu.A. Meshcheryakov, D.A. Timofeev, O.K. Leontyev, Yu.G. Simonov, N.A. Florensov, G.F. Ufimtsev, A.N. Lastochkin, and many others. Finally, we emphasized that today Russia’s geomorphology has entered a new stage of development corresponding to current world trends: the study of inaccessible terrain (submarine, subglacial, extraterrestrial), digital modeling based on GIS technologies, and integration with other disciplines of the geological and geographical series.