He discovered the Vorkuta coal deposits and the petroleum district of the Bolshezemelskaya tundra, including the Usinskoe and Kharyaginskoye oil fields.

[4] He obtained a doctorate in geological and mineralogical sciences from Moscow University and was the recipient of the Honored Geologist award of the RSFSR.

Here Chernov opened Vangyrskoe field, discovering piezoquartz, a valuable raw material for the electronic industry.

In 1967 he retired and moved to Leningrad, where in 1968 he defended his doctoral thesis on "Paleozoic Bolshezemelskaya tundra and prospects of its oil and gas potential."

Chernov traveled to the coast of Khaipudyrskaya Bay (Barents Sea) to carry out a detailed geological survey and review the available information on the oil-bearing Usinsk area.

Chernov described this period of his life as discovering gas in Naryan-Mar, and oil deposits in the area of Colva and Kharyaga, at the mouth of the Black River, and on the coast of the Barents Sea.

In 2007, Vladimir Putin signed a decree awarding Chernov the fourth degree Order "For Merit to the Fatherland".

For participating in opening the Usinsk deposit in 1976 Chernov was awarded the second degree of the same Order and the sign "Pathfinder field".