Some major events in the development of the scientific study of loess

• Published in: Earth-science reviews 2001-06, Vol.54 (1), p.5-18
• Main Authors: Smalley, I.J., Jefferson, I.F., Dijkstra, T.A., Derbyshire, E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Climate; climatic links; Dust; Geology; History; loess; loess history; loess maps; major loess investigations; Quaternary events; scientific investigation; stratigraphy; theories of formation; Theory
• ISSN: 0012-8252; 1872-6828
• DOI: 10.1016/S0012-8252(01)00038-1

A European view of loess history is presented. The major events, or ‘great moments’, considered are (1) Karl Caesar von Leonhard names loess; (2) Charles Lyell popularises loess; (3) Richthofen solves ‘The Loess Problem’; (4) John Hardcastle relates loess to climate; (5) Pavel Tutkovskii makes clear the role of glaciers in loess genesis; (6) V.A. Obruchev makes the case for desert loess; (7) L.S. Berg propounds the ‘in-situ’ theory of loess formation; (8) Rudolf Grahmann maps loess in ‘Europa’; (9) R.J. Russell adopts the ‘in-situ’ idea; (10) Liu Tungsheng pioneers Chinese loess stratigraphy; (11) Julius Fink focuses loess research in the INQUA Loess Commission; and (12) George Kukla reshapes the Quaternary by way of loess research. The need for Chinese, Russian, and North American accounts to balance an authoritative view of loess history is recognized. The truly critical moment in the 20th century was the discovery by Liu Tungsheng and his colleagues of multiple palaeosols within the Chinese loess and the associated realization that these implied a multi-event Quaternary.