Igor’ F. Nikitin and His “Golden Age” of Ordovician Studies in Kazakhstan

Biographical information is provided about Igor Fedorovich Nikitin (1924–2007), a renowned stratigrapher and paleontologist who played a significant role in the geological study of Ordovician sedimentary and volcanicsedimentary complexes in Kazakhstan during the 1960s and 1980s. Nikitin worked for more than 60 years at the Institute of Geological Sciences in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where he authored or co-authored numerous monographs and contributed to the development of regional stratigraphic schemes for Kazakhstan. He proposed the structural zoning of Lower Paleozoic rocks in Kazakhstan, described numerous stratotypes and key sections, and determined the age of various formations and stratigraphic units. His work forms the basis for subsequent studies of Ordovician geology in Kazakhstan.