The so-called "Nikolaev Line" is a fault that separates the northern and central Tien Shan ranges.
[1] Nikolaev was born in Nizhny Novgorod where his father Arseny Ivanovich was a store clerk married to Yekaterina Petrovna.
In 1915 he worked in the northern Tien Shan range and he studied the volcanic strata which resulted in his thesis published ten years later.
[2] He examined faults in the Tien Shan region and helped in delineating tectonic zones.
[3] He also studied petrological processes and considered theoretical aspects of silicate formation under pressure and involving reactions with water and carbon dioxide.