Evgeny Krinov
The Soviet meteorite scientist who studied Tunguska with Kulik and led the field study of the 1947 Sikhote-Alin iron shower.
Key facts
- Born
- 1906
- Died
- 1984
- Nationality
- Russian
- Field
- Astronomer and geologist
Evgeny Leonidovich Krinov joined Leonid Kulik's expeditions to the Tunguska site in 1929 and 1930 as a young researcher. It was the start of a career devoted to meteorites, and he went on to become one of the leading figures of the Committee on Meteorites of the Soviet Academy of Sciences.
On 12 February 1947 a fireball brighter than the Sun crossed the Sikhote-Alin mountains in the Russian Far East. Krinov was among the scientists who went to the fall area, in thick forest and deep snow, and over several seasons the expeditions mapped dozens of craters and recovered thousands of iron fragments. Krinov estimated that about 23 tonnes of iron had reached the ground, one of the largest falls ever recorded.
Krinov wrote textbooks on meteoritics that were translated into English and used around the world, as well as detailed books on Tunguska and Sikhote-Alin. He also studied the flight of meteoroids through the atmosphere and the fine dust they leave behind.
The mineral krinovite, a rare silicate found in iron meteorites, is named after him, and so is an asteroid.
On the timeline
- 12 February 1947The Sikhote-Alin iron shower
See more
The Sikhote-Alin meteoriteThe Tunguska eventSikhote-Alin crater