THE FIRST SCIENTIFIC DESCRIPTION OF EUROPEAN LOESS-PALEOSOL SEQUENCES

Posted by Alexander Makeev 08 Mar 2006 23:50:34

Marković B. Slobodan & £ovanović Ìladjen

Quaternary research centre, University of Novi Sad, Trg D. Obradovića 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia and Montenegro

This short communication highlights importance of our excursion area to loess research in Europe, beginning with the work of Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli (figure 1).
During the last decade of 17th century Marsigli was employed to arrange the boundaries between the Turkey, and Austrian Empire. As high officer of Austrian army Marsigli spent a lot of time in Patrovaradin, Titel and Stari Slankamen forts. Italian soldier and scientist, at the same time worked on his military duties and also investigated loess-paleosol exposures situated close to these fortifications. Noticeable loess-paleosol exposures along Danube river valley have been drawn by Marsigli in his outstanding six volume book Danubius Pannonico Mysicus (1726). Cont Marsigly described lithology of loess bank of Danube river, respectively, modern soil (marked with A in Figure 1) as Terra fructifera pinguis nigra et creatacea (black fertile carbonate soil), paleosol (B) as Terra nigra fructifera pinguis (black fertile soil) and between them loess layer (C) as Terra lutosa cinerive et in fragmento creatacea priabilis [yellow-cinerary layer with carbonate fragments (concretions)] (figure 2). To summarize, it is evident that many sedimenthological characteristics of loess-paleosol sequences as recognized by Marsigli remain valid to this day.
Marsigli’s observations of loess-paleosol sequences was published one century before pioneering work of von Leonard’s (1823/1824) about characterization of loess deposits (Zoeller & Semmel, 2001). Ever since the initial study of Marsigli loess research around the world have been established as one of the most promising tools for understanding of Quaternary plaeoclimatic evolution.

REFERENCES

Marsigli, L.F., 1726, Danubius Pannonico Mysicus; Observationibis Geographicis, Astronomicis, Hydrographicis, Physicis; perlustratus: The Hague and Amsterdam, Grosse, P., Alberts, Chr., de Hoodt P., Herm. Uytwert & Franc Changuion.
Von Leonard, K.C. (1823/1824): Characteristik der Felsarten. 3 Bde. 772 S. Heidelberg (J. Engelmann).
Zoeller, L. & Semmel, A. (2001): 175 year of loess research in Germany – long records and „unconformities“. Earth-Science Reviews 54: 19-28.

This is contribution in the Field Guide book for excursion of Milutin Milankovitch Anniversary Symposium, Organized by Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, 2nd September 2004.