ALEXANDER F. MIDDENDORF (1815–1894) – ONE OF THE LEADING RUSSIAN NATURALISTS IN THE XIXTH CENTURY (for the 200-year birth anniversary)

Abstract

A.F. Middendorf opened a new age of Russian geographic discoveries by his vouages to the Far East (1842– 1845), to the Baraba steppe (1869) and to the Middle Asia (1878). Some prominent scientific works have issued from his pen: “Travel to the North and East of Siberia” (1860), “Baraba” (1871) and “Sketches of the Fergana Valley” (1886). During his travels he made significant contribution to geography and geomorphology. After the Siberian expedition Russian scientists got a real insight into the orography of large regions of the Eastern Siberia and Far East. He discovered the Putorana plateau, he was the first to explore the Stanovoy range, the North-Siberian lowland, Amur region. He studied large Siberian rivers; clarified the morphology of the Okhotsk Sea southern coast and the Shantarskiye islands; made the Amur region’s nature sketch and map; layed the foundation of modern ideas about permafrost distribution. He found out that the Russian-Chinese border passes along the Stanovoy range slope, thus adding to the Russian territory some 50–60 thousands of quarter kilometers. This was helpful for solution of the question of the Amur region and Far East joining to Russia. During expedition to the Baraba steppe the scientist made interesting assumtions concerning the marine genesis of the Baraba, its relief and sand spits. During expedition to the Fergana hollow he was the first to define the role of Fergana’s morphostructural isolation in conservation of its natural and economic wealth; he contributed a lot to studying the deserts relief and was the first to propose the Fergana’s deserts classification; he fixed that Fergana is the ancient region of human settlement.