Leontev, Oleg Konstantinovich

Born Feb. 19, 1920, in the village of Uiar, Krasnoiarsk Krai. Soviet geomor-phologist. Doctor of Geographic Sciences (1957). Professor (1960). Member of the CPSU (1944).

In 1959, Leont’ev became head of the subdepartment of geomorphology of the department of geography at Moscow State University. He is also the director of the Caspian expedition and the laboratory of marine geomorphology of the department of geography, Moscow State University. Leont’ev has studied the coasts of Lake Baikal, the Caspian, the Sea of Okhotsk and other seas, as well as the coasts of China, Albania, Cuba, and those of islands of the Indian and Pacific oceans. He worked out principles for the zonation and the classification of coasts and described the distinctive features in the development of coasts of tidal seas and coral reefs. Leont’ev made important contributions to the study of the evolution of the transitional zone and of mid-oceanic ranges, as well as of fluctuations in the level of all oceans of the world.