100th birth anniversary of Yuri Aleksandrovich Meshcheryakov – outstanding Russian scientist

In 2021, we marked the 100th birth anniversary of Yuri Meshcheryakov, outstanding Russian geodesist and geomorphologist. The vast contribution of this progressively minded scientist of the postwar generation of Soviet geomorphologists to science made during his short life cannot but amaze. With no higher education in geography (he graduated with honors from the Moscow State Institute of Geodesy and Cartography) he promptly assessed, assimilated and accepted the main achievements of geomorphology in the Soviet Union and abroad; he organized large-scale collective studies of structural morphology and modern tectonic movements, developed the methods of geomorphological cartography and studies of exogenic processes of morphogenesis. A successful explorer and theoretician he had several new methods of structural geomorphological studies to his name; he organized large-scale collective efforts and supervised the studies and theses of his pupils. He took part in geological and geomorphological expeditions in the central and south-eastern parts of the Russian Plain, Bashkiria, the Volga and the Caspian areas, West Siberia and the Eastern Sayan Mountains which inspired him to elaborate and improve the use of certain geodesic and geographic methods in the studies of modern and ancient reliefs. He generalized and formulated the basic theoretical ideas about modern tectonic processes, methods of their studies and enriched geomorphology with qualitative methods of studies and geophysical approaches. As a scientific advisor he was personally involved in drawing, in the shortest time possible, of the first maps of the modern movements of the Earth’s crust in the European part of the Soviet Union and East European countries. He was the recognized leader of studies of the modern movements of the Earth’s crust. The Geomorphological Commission at the USSR Academy of Sciences set up in 1958 and the Geomorfologiya (Geomorphology RAS) journal, another unique project started in 1970 are indisputable evidence of his organizational talents; both have survived the ups and downs of our history. He was born at the right time in the right country. We should cherish his memory.

1. Meshcheryakov Yu.A. Strukturnaya geomorfologiya ravninnykh stran (Structural geomorphology of lowland countries). Moscow: Nauka (Publ.), 1965. 390 p. (in Russ.)

2. Rel’ef Zemli (morfostruktura i morfoskul’ptura) (The relief of the Earth (morphostructure and morphosculpture). I.P. Gerasimov and Yu.A. Meshcheryakov (Eds.). Moscow: Nauka (Publ.), 1964. 330 p. (in Russ.)

3. Meshcheryakov Yu.A. Rel’ef SSSR (Relief of the USSR). Moscow: Mysl’ (Publ.), 1972. 519 p. (in Russ.)

4. Gerasimov I.P. Problemy global’noi geomorfologii (Problems of global geomorphology). Moscow: Nauka (Publ.), 1986. 207 p. (in Russ.)

5. Khain V.E. Megarel’ef Zemli i tektonika litosfernykh plit (Mega-relief of the Earth and tectonics of lithospheric plates). Geomorfologiya (Geomorphology RAS). 1989. No. 3. P. 3–14. (in Russ.)

6. Morfostrukturnyi analiz rechnoi seti SSSR (Morphostructural analysis of the drainage system of the USSR). I.P. Gerasimov and S.S. Korzhuev (Eds.). Moscow: Nauka (Publ.), 1979. 303 p. (in Russ.)

7. Problemy geomorfologii gor (Problems of geomorphology of mountains). N.A. Florensov (Ed.). Moscow: Nauka (Publ.), 1984. 214 p. (in Russ.)

8. Gory shovnykh zon i tektonika plit (Suture mountains and plate tectonics). Korzhuev S.S. (Ed.). Moscow: Nauka (Publ.), 1990. 270 p. (in Russ.)

9. Gerasimov I.P. Geologicheskoe stroenie i rel’ef. Al’py – Kavkaz (Geological structure and relief. Alps - Caucasus.). Moscow: Nauka (Publ.), 1980. 270 p. (in Russ.)

10. Lilienberg D.A., Setunskaya L.E. Problemy soderzhaniya, tipologii i metodiki sostavleniya kart sovremennykh tektonicheskikh dvizhenii (Problems of content, typology and methods of compiling maps of modern tectonic movements). Sovremennye dvizheniya zemnoi kory. Teoriya, metody, prognozy. Moscow: Nauka (Publ.), 1980. P. 76–84. (in Russ.)

11. Fiziko-geograficheskii atlas Mira (Physical and geographical atlas of the World). I.P. Gerasimov (Ed.). Moscow: AN SSSR, GUGK (Publ.), 298 p. (in Russ.)

12. Geomorfologicheskaya karta SSSR m-ba 1:2500000 (Geomorphological map of the USSR on a scale of 1:2500000). I.P. Gerasimov and A.A. Aseev (Eds.). Moscow: GUGK (Publ.), 1987. 16 p. (in Russ.)

13. Karta sovremennykh vertikal’nykh dvizhenii zemnoi kory Vostochnoi Evropy m-ba 1:1000000 (Map of modern vertical movements of the earth’s crust in Eastern Europe, on a scale of 1:1000000.). Yu.A. Meshcheryakov (Ed.). Moscow: GUGK (Publ.), 1971. (in Russ.)

14. Karta sovremennykh vertikal’nykh dvizhenii zemnoi kory Vostochnoi Evropy m-ba 1:2500000 (Map of modern vertical movements of the earth’s crust in Eastern Europe, on a scale of 1:2500000). Yu.A. Meshcheryakov (Ed.). Moscow: GUGK (Publ.), 1973. (in Russ.)

15. Karta sovremennykh vertikal’nykh dvizhenii zemnoi kory na territorii Bolgarii, Vengrii, GDR, Pol’shi, Rumynii, SSSR, Chekhoslovakii (Evropeiskaya chast') m-ba 1:2500000 (Map of modern vertical movements of the earth’s crust on the territory of Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany, Poland, Romania, USSR, Czechoslovakia (European part) on a scale of 1:2500000). V.M. Antonov (Ed.). Moscow: GUGK (Publ.), 1986. (in Russ.)

16. Karta poverkhnostei vyravnivaniya i kor vyvetrivaniya SSSR m-ba 12500000 (Map of alignment surfaces and weathering crusts of the USSR on a scale of 12500000). I.P. Gerasimov and A.V. Sidorenko (Eds.). M.: Vsesoyuz. aerogeol. trest (Publ.), 1972. 16 l. (in Russ.)

17. Dedkov A.P. K teorii ekzogennogo rel’efoobrazovaniya (To the theory of exogenous relief formation). Yurii Aleksandrovich Meshcheryakov. Vospominaniya. Nauchnye stat’i. Moscow: Media-Press (Publ.), 2002. P. 124–135. (in Russ.)

18. Makkaveev N.I. Nekotorye osobennosti erozionno-akkumulyativnogo processa (Some features of the erosion-accumulative process). Eroziya pochv i ruslovye processy (Soil erosion and channel processes). M.: Izd-vo MGU (Publ.), 1961. Vol. 8. P. 5–16.

19. Geomorfologicheskie rezhimy Evrazii (Geomorphological regimes of Eurasia). D.A. Timofeev (Ed.). Moscow: Media-Press (Publ.), 2006. 399 p. (in Russ.)