Ian Smalley

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

Abstract 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.

Loess in the Vojvodina region (Northern Serbia): An essential link between European and Asian Pleistocene environments

Loess in the Vojvodina region (Northern Serbia) : an essential link between European and Asian Pleistocene environments

Genesis and properties of collapsible soils

Types and distribution of collapsible soils C. D. F. Rogers. Six definable particle types in engineering soils and their participation in collapse events: Proposals and discussions I. Jefferson, I. Smalley. A stress path model for collapsible loess R. L. Handy. Factors and mechanisms of loess collapsibility V. I. Osipov, V. N. Sokolov. Techniques to examine microfabric and particle interaction of collapsible soils N. K. Tovey. On the development of microstructure in collapsible soils. Lessons from the study of recent sediments and artificial cementation J. Locat. The Slovak Carpathians loess sediments: their fabric and properties A. Klukanova, J. Frankovska. Mechanisms of collapse of soils structures J. Feda. The collapse mechanism of a soil subjected to one-dimensional loading and wetting D. G. Fredlund, J. K.-M. Gan. The influence of the clay component in loess on collapse of the soil structure T. W. Mellors. Interpretation and comparison of collapse measurement techniques S. L. Houston et al. Consideration of the possible contributions of amorphous phases to the sensitivity of glaciomarine clays S. P. Bentley, A. J. Roberts. Variation in collapsibility and strength of loess with age Z.-G. Lin. Collapsible loess on the loess plateau of China E. Derbyshire et al. Post-depositional processes in high-sensitivity, fine-grained, collapsible sediments J. K. Torrance. Changes in water chemistry and loess porosity with leaching: Implications for collapsibility in the loess of North China T. Muxart et al. Effects of rock fragments on the structural collapse of tilled topsoils during rain J. W. A. Poesen, B. van Wesemael. Simulation and modelling of collapsible soils J. D. Nieuwenhuis, M. B. de Groot. Collapse mechanisms and design considerations for some partly saturated and saturated soils G. Lefebvre. Design and treatment of loess bases in Bulgaria D. Evstatiev. Comparison of results of oedometer and plate load tests performed on collapsible soils Y. M. Reznik. Postscript. Index.

Possible formation mechanisms for the modal coarse-silt quartz particles in loess deposits

Abstract The first major event in the formation of a loess deposit is the production of silt-sized quartz particles. Many particle production methods have been proposed; the bulk of loess particles appear to be produced by (a) glacial grinding (to give ice-sheet loess) or (b) cold weathering in high regions (to give mountain loess). There are close relationships between mountain loess and ‘desert’ loess. Loess material can be seen as a product of the cold phase of the glacial cycle.

LOESS TOWARDS (GEO) TOURISM - PROPOSED APPLICATION ON LOESS IN VOJVODINA REGION (NORTH SERBIA)

Loess-palaeosol sequences preserve the most important continental record of climatic and environmental changes during the Quaternary. As a significant element of global geodiversity and geoheritage, loess-palaeosol sequences could be used as resources for a contemporary trend in sustainable tourism – geotourism. This form of tourism appreciates and promotes non-living nature (geodiversity) through its conservation and interpretation. This further leads to enhancing public awareness of these sites. In this study, we report on a proposal for establishing geotourism at the most important loess sites in the Vojvodina region.

Engineering geology of loess and loess-like deposits: a commentary on the Russian literature

Loess and loess-like deposits were much studied in the Soviet Union, and are currently under investigation in Russia and surrounding countries. There is a vast literature in Russian, which touches on all aspects of loess science and technology. In particular, the studies of the origin of collapsibility are almost totally in Russian, and of course studies on the various regions of Russia and the countries of the Former Soviet Union FSU appear in Russian. This review looks at the literature in Russian and attempts to pick out key contributors, major topics and works and to identify the critical regions and zones of investigation. Because so many regions of the FSU had people living on loess ground, there is a vast literature on engineering geology and ground engineering topics, and this tends to dominate all the literature on loess in Russian. Following Russian practice, the fine-grained deposits under consideration are divided into loess and loess-like deposits. Three main topics are recognised across the whole spectrum of loess research: formation and distribution of loess deposits; stratigraphy, cyclicity and palaeoclimatology; and engineering topics, in particular hydrocollapse and subsidence, and we concentrate on the engineering geology topics. An attempt is made, based on the map of Abelev and Abelev [Abelev, Yu.M., Abelev, M.Yu., 1968. Fundamentals of design and construction on collapsible macroporous soils, 2nd ed. Stroiizdat, Moscow, 431 pp. (in Russian)] of collapsing loess deposits, to define seven loess regions within the geographical limits of the old USSR. The seven regions are those where geotechnical problems might be expected.

Relating the Astronomical Timescale to the Loess–Paleosol Sequences in Vojvodina, Northern Serbia

In this study the first astronomical time scale for loess-paleosol sequences of Vojvodina region, northern Serbia is presented astronomical timescale for the loess–paleosol sequences of the Vojvodina region, northern Serbia. The sequence is the longest and most detailed orbitally tuned European loess record, comparable to Asian sequences to the east. Magnetic susceptibility (MS) records from two continuous loess–paleosol sequences in Vojvodina have been used to construct the timescale, with the aim of investigating climatic and environmental evolution and variability over the last million years. The 47.3-m-thick Mosorin (MO) section covers the time interval between marine isotope stages (MIS) 1 and 15, while the lower part of the Stari Slankamen (SS) section covers the time frame prior to MIS 16. The MS records were tuned to June 65°N insolation over the period between 0 and approximately 1 million years. The new timescale suggests older than expected ages for a number of the magnetic polarity boundaries, consistent with lock-in depth offsets reported for other loess sequences. Spectral analyses of the stacked MS variations indicate that climatic dynamics are dominated mainly by the changes in orbital eccentricity and subdominantly by obliquity and precession bands, over the past 1 million years.

Fractal characteristics of loess formation: evidence from laboratory experiments

The fractal is presented as a method for describing the geometry of particles, with particular reference to the breakdown of granular soils and the formation of loess. The preliminary results are reported: (a) for the extent to which silt due to comminution exhibits a fractal distribution; (b) the tendency of fractal dimension to change with the comminution process; and (c) the relationship between fractal dimension describing particle size distribution and the grinding time. Laboratory simulation confirms the general tendency of fractal characteristics to reflect the size reduction process.

The shape of drumlins, their distribution in drumlin fields, and the nature of the sub-ice shaping forces

This paper examines attempts to define and interpret drumlin shape; in particular the Chorley lemniscate and the Reed—Galvin—Miller ellipsoid. It also considers the Koenderink approach to describing shape, which ignores statistically defined shapes and concentrates on arbitrary smooth lumps of three-dimensional space. The basic shape of a drumlin at first sight appears to offer no clue to the rightness of any of the hypotheses or conjectures about drumlin formation. The shape suggests that a flowing fluid erodes the parts of landscape which have a lower shear strength than the adjacent parts. However, by considering whether the fluid is ice (very viscous) or water (less viscous), it is suggested that it is possible to distinguish between a drumlin formed by deformation and a drumlin formed by basal water erosion, by identifying subtle shape differences produced by different flow regimes. We find little indication, either from drumlin shape or disposition of drumlins in fields, that the basal water erosion mechanism causes the formation of drumlins. Observations of the growth and break-up of bubbles rising through a fluid may serve as an appropriate analogy for describing drumlin growth and eventual break-up. This bubble model is useful in suggesting an accretion model for drumlin growth and predicting that the form of a drumlin before break-up is similar to a spherical cap or parabolic drumlin. The bubble model and observation of flow past obstacles at very low Reynolds numbers suggest that a minimum resistance shape is not always a lemniscate. The variation of the critical stress and strength parameters across a drumlin field (essentially perpendicular to the ice-flow direction) suggests that the distribution could be zonal, that across a drumlin field a change in drumlin density should occur. Considering the drumlins as a whole-field phenomenon the “dimpled” surface of the drumlin swarm may actually reduce drag.

The INQUA Loess Commission as a Central European Enterprise

The International Union of Quaternary Research (INQUA) organized the study and consideration of the Quaternary Period (the last 2.6 million years in Earth’s history) via a set of commissions, sub-commissions, working groups, projects and programmes. One of the most successful and best records was the Loess Commission (LC) which functioned assub-commission and then commission from 1961 to 2003, resulting in 40 years of useful activity. The history of the LC can be divided into three phases: 1, from 1961–1977 when the President was Julius Fink; 2, from 1977–1991, with President Marton Pecsi; 3, from 1991–2003 with Presidents An Zhi-Sheng and Ian Smalley.Fink, from Vienna, and Pecsi, from Budapest, gave the LC a distinctly Central European aspect. The nature of loess in Central Europe influenced the nature of the LC but the settings for phases 1 and 2 were quite distinct. Phase 1 was a small scale academic operation, carried out in German. As phase 2 began in 1977 the scope expanded and Central Europe became a base for worldwide loess studies. where the LC language changed to English. Phase 2 was run from a National Geographical Institute and demonstrated a different approach to loess research, although the basic programmes of continent-wide mapping and stratigraphy remained the same. The Commission benefited from this change of style and emphasis. In phase 3 the administration moved away from Central Europe but the Finkian ethos remained solid.