His early education by his mother gave him a fluency in German, French, and English, which allowed him later in life to travel to Western Europe, to correspond with foreign specialists, and to represent Soviet geology abroad.

[1] D. I. Mushketov's geological interests were very wide including the worldwide study of tectonics and seismology, but he concentrated his work in Central Asia, covering also the fields of stratigraphy, geomorphology, glaciers, and mineral resources.

His name is particularly well known for the high-quality revisions and additions that he made to each edition of the textbook on physical geology that was originally written by his father (published in 1888–91).

[1] He participated in International Geological Congress abroad in 1922 (XIII, Belgium), 1926 (XIV, Spain), and 1929 (XV, South Africa).

[1] On June 29, 1937, Mushketov was arrested upon a falsified accusation, a month before the International Geological Congress (XVII, Moscow, July 21, 1937).