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Climate: Past, Present & Future

loess

Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return – palaeoclimatological implications of provenance studies of Southeast European loess deposits

and November 5, 2021
Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return – palaeoclimatological implications of provenance studies of Southeast European loess deposits
The loess cliffs of Vlasca, southern Romania (Photo credit: Stephan Pötter).

Previous blog posts have highlighted the importance of loess as an indicator of climate and environmental changes in the past. These posts showed the relevance of loess deposits as  archives of Pleistocene climates and environments, the importance of using novel approaches in mapping these and other Quaternary-related sediments,  the aspects of dating loess deposits, as well as the peculiarities o ...[Read More]

Presenting a new European loess map

and March 31, 2021
Presenting a new European loess map

Loess is a silt-sized, aeolian sediment that was produced in large quantities in past geological eras of mid-latitude Europe and Asia, among others (Fig. 1). It is used in Quaternary science to infer about past climatic and environmental conditions. Generally, layers of loess formed during cold and dry periods, while soils formed within/on top the loess during warmer and wetter periods. These soil ...[Read More]

What’s my age again? Comparing dating methods in loess

, , and February 9, 2021
What’s my age again? Comparing dating methods in loess
Figure 1: The investigated Balta Alba Kurgan loess-paleosol sequence in Romania with the partly preserved Kurgan on top (black dashed line). Sampled profiles are indicated by the white rectangles and the stratigraphically important tephra layer is highlighted in pink (adapted from [1]).

As you have learned from our previous posts, loess is a widespread terrestrial sediment, known to be an important archive for the changes of past environmental and climatic conditions. In order to use loess as a proxy, we first need to investigate the age of the sediments. In loess, different dating methods can be used, such as luminescence dating, radiocarbon dating, magnetic stratigraphy, and or ...[Read More]

LOESS IN TRANSLATION

November 25, 2020
LOESS IN TRANSLATION
Figure image: Loess profile in North Bulgaria. The Danube River in the distance.

Loess is a mineral, aeolian deposit with a range of definitions in literature, which class it as either a sediment, soil, or rock. Some classic texts suggest that “loess is not just the accumulation of dust” [1], and it must include additional processes such as loessification, calcification, pedogenesis, and in-situ weathering. The definition adopted depends on the scientific background and the qu ...[Read More]