Chief research scientist

SOKRAT ISAYEV

Doctor of geological-mineralogical sciences, Head of Scientific-Research Laboratory of Paleobiogeochemistry of BSU, Professor of Chair of “Hydrogeology of Engineering Geology”
Tel: (+99412) 439 09 81

PERSONAL DATA

• Date and place of birth: September 23, 1937. Kyurkaragashli village, Salyan region, Azerbaijan Republic
• Graduated from geological faculty of BSU
• Speciality: engineer-geologist

EDUCATION AND ACADEMIC DEGREES OBTAINED

• In 1961 graduated from BSU.
• Candidate thesis: “Biogeochemical investigation of recent and Absheron monodaknas and dressensides in the Absheron peninsula”, 1968.
• Doctor thesis: “Biogeochemical composition of Pliocene –Quaternary mollusks and its importance for paleoecology and stratigraphy”, 1988.

COMPLETE PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND

• 1961-1964- Kazakhstan, geologist group
• 1964 - BSU (up to now) – junior researcher, head of a sector, leading researcher, senior researcher, head of laboratory)
• Since 2001 has been working in chair of “Hidrogeology and engineering geology” in BSU
• Sokrat Isayev – is a supervisor of classes “Bases of Ecology”, “Hydrogeoecology”, ”Applied Ecology”, ”Geoecology”, ”Problems of Hydrogeology in Azerbaijan”, Problems of Hydrogeology”
• Author of 129 papers, 6 monographs, 3 text-books
• Supervised 2 candidate thesises; conducted geological survey, geological exploration and paleontological-stratigraphic investigations
• SCIENTIFIC NOVELTY:
  - thanatocenotic peculiarities of accumulations of shells in modern and ancient deposits are closely in touch with the physical-geographical terms of the mollusk habitat and reflects facial-geochemical depositional environments as well as the character of the post-sedimentation processes. This enables to judge about parameters of the marine and brackish-water paleoecosystems.
  - character of distribution of small elements in modern and ancient Caspian deposits in the continental shelf depends on granulometry and carbon content of the sediments, existence of iron in waters and sediments in the form of sulfides and hydroxides, sedimentary cachygenites, as well as on the oxidation – reduction and alkaline-acid terms of sedimentation and initial stages of diagenesis of the sedimentary material, extent of conversion of the OM, dynamics of waters etc.
  - chemical composition of shells is linked, mainly, with physiology and habitat of mollusks. Changes of content of elements and their correlation in ontogenesis are controlled phylogenetically as well as they reflect dynamics and facial-geochemical terms of growth and they are fixed in every layer of a shell and at every stage of evolution of mollusks. For some elements these regularities are broken after the dying out of a living being when the composition of valves varies in the process of tafonomic (epigenetic) conversions.
  - mineral composition and character of evolution of certain structural elements of a shell are controlled first of all genetically. Preservation of a shell, processes of conversion of orago¬nite into calcite are determined by the aggregation of lithofacial and geochemical terms during and after the removal, by a systematic position of the organism and the associated physical-chemical properties of aragonite and the OM.
  - relative amount of protein components in the shells of alive mollusks changes depending on ecological-physiological factors. At the same time relations between certain bioelements between amount of acid and alkaline amino acids, protein and non-protein fractions are specific and may be used in systematics as an additional feature of a species, genus and taxons of another rank.
  - during the transition from the existence in the marine habitat to the fresh-water and terrestrial habitat, the evolution took place not in the direction of the growth of the OM amount, but in the direction of the growth of extent of its heterogeneity at account of the growth of a share of the non-protein fraction.
  - the changes of chemical element composition of the mollusk shells during the alteration of ecological-geochemical environments, are determined by the interaction of genetic potentions of a species in terms of their realization in the changing terms of the external environment. Specific features of these changes, peculiarities of microstructure of shells, allow in many cases to reconstruct paleogeography and paleoecology as well as to clarify systematics, stratigraphy and genesis of sedimentary rocks and economic minerals.
  - distribution, amount and forms of existence of technogenic elements, in particular, chemical elements and their combinations, which are formed during oil and gas exploitation, are deter¬mined mainly by the landscape-geochemical peculiarities of the territory.
  - in the territories of oil-gas fields (Sabunchi, 1993, Bibieibat, 2005, Binagadi, 2006) there has been determined existence of anomalies of redistribution of chemical elements, forming secondary lithochemical field. Thus, a number of elements in soils are accumulated together and form paragenic associations. They include such mobile elements like Pb, Mn, Zn, Cu, Co, Ni, Cr, able to be dislocated and concentrated in the appropriate barriers. Their concentrations several times exceed the normal ones, typical of the natural landscapes of the Absheron peninsula.
  - it has been determined, that areols and flows of heavy metals which are formed during their dissemination by the natural mecha¬nisms of migration in terms of technogenesis, are close to areols and flows of economic minerals. This enables to apply methods, used during the exploration works, for the ecological-geochemical assessment of the environmental state.
  

PRESENT RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Paleobiogeochemistry, geoecology

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES, SYMPOSIUMS

• Change of chemical composition of potable and low-mineralized underground waters in the Absheron peninsula. Reports of International scientific-practical conferences:” Man and Emergencies; September 17-18,” Fövqəlassosiasiya; Baku, 2001

LIST OF SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

• 2003, Geoecology (together with A.A.Masimov and A.I.Khasayev). Pub., “Kur”, Baku
• 2003, Ecological-geochemical investigations of the south Absheron coast of the Caspian Sea. “Environmental protection in the oil-gas complex,” №11, 2003, Moscow, (in Russian)
• 2004, Comparative geochemical analysis of amounts of heavy metals in technogenic coastal landscape in the north-west Absheron; Vestnik; BSU, iss.nat.sc., №1, (in Russian)
• 2007, Peculiacities of contamination by heavy metals of coastal bottom sediments towards the south of Bailov. In the same edition, 4, (in Russian)
• 2008, Distribution of heavy metals in surficial waters and bottom sediments in the Absheron peninsula. The same edition, №3, (in Russian)

BOOKS

• 1971, Paleobiochemical investigation of mollusks of the upper Pliocene in Azerbaijan and recent Caspian Sea (together with K.M.Sultanov). Azerb. State Pub. Baku
• Paleobiogeochemistry of mollusks in Azerbaijan (together with K.M. Sultanov). Pub “Elm” (in Russian)
• 1991,Caspian mollusks: composition, structure and mineralogy; transformations during diagenesis. AzNIINII, № 1986.Az 03.07.91. Baku, VINIII, Dep. №11/241, 1991. M.1991 (in Russian)
• 2004, Ecological geochemistry in the Near Absheron shelf. ”El-Alliance”, Baku
• 2007, Ecological-geochemical assessment of changes in biosphere of the Absheron peninsula (together with Babayev F.M.Ragimzadeh. A.I.Sultanov R.R. Pub. “MBM”, Baku (in Russian)
• 2008, Biogeochemical composition of plants in the Greater Caucasus (throughout Azerbaijan). Pub. “Laman”, Baku (in Russian)