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Leonard Horner in Bonn and Liu Tungsheng in Beijing Tic Open Geosci. 2018; 10:925–931 Research Article Ian Smalley* and Slobodan B. Markovic An enthusiasm for loess: Leonard Horner in Bonn and Liu Tungsheng in Beijing https://doi.org/10.1515/geo-2018-0073 tic. Liu followed determinedly in these footsteps; a great Received Jan 10, 2018; accepted Dec 18, 2018 scholar, and a great enthusiast. Loess scholarship needs careful and precise investigation Abstract: Liu Tungsheng featured on the list of twelve no- and reporting but it also needs a broad sweep of enthusi- table loess investigators prepared for the great LoessFest asm, an appreciation of loess for the extraordinary mate- meeting, held in Heidelberg and Bonn in 1999. He fully de- rial that it is. served his position on this list of eminent loess scholars; in fact it might be argued that his was the major contri- Keywords: Loess, loess investigation, loess enthusiasm, bution. His contribution was a true paradigm shift in the Leonard Horner, Liu Tungsheng world of loess investigation. Obruchev and Richthofen had produced an earlier paradigm shift when they propagated the idea that loess deposits form by aeolian deposition- a “The thick silt sediment in North China deposited by the wind paradigm shift away from the earlier Lyellian idea of la- during the dry period of the Quaternary period is unique in many custrine or fluvial deposition. But that was a fairly simple aspects. Its great thickness, wide distribution, complex develop- ment history, rich fossil contents and the characteristic topogra- shift, a tweak of the sedimentological event structure. Liu, phy it shows make it unequalled as compared with the loess de- and his co-workers in China, produced a new vision, a new posits in other parts of the world.” way of looking at loess, not so much a paradigm shift as a Liu & Chang 1964 p.523 [12] paradigm enlargement. Post-Liu the Quaternary era was a new land, a new place with a real chronology and a land- scape of events and amazing happenings. 1 Introduction Liu related to the amazing. We propose that he played a role in promoting and maintaining an enthusiasm for Loess was first described and defined by Karl Caesar von loess. Loess science has become very precise and the Leonhard, in Heidelberg, in 1824 [1]. Loess is entry #89 scholars are respected for their exact and insightful ob- in von Leonhard’s list of interesting and significant geo- servations; but Liu offered an extra dimension, we need materials. This entry, in volume 3 of von Leonhard’s great to recognize the dimension of enthusiasm; the realization work, we see as the founding reference to loess, and the that loess is a remarkable material and the need to propa- beginning of almost 200 years of loess research and schol- gate that fact. And in recognising Liu as the major loess arship. The fortuitous arrival of Charles Lyell in Heidel- enthusiast of the 20th Century we should acknowledge berg in 1832 meant that this potentially obscure material Leonard Horner, the first loess enthusiast. Karl Caesar von became known throughout the world. Lyell was engaged Leonhard named loess and placed it in a scientific context; at the time in writing ‘The Principles of Geology’ the book Charles Lyell took the idea of loess and spread the science which would keep him occupied for the rest of his life. world-wide, but it was Horner, in those few years at Bonn It was one of the great early compendiums of geological (1831-1833), who recognised loess for the marvellous ma- knowledge and had huge influence in the developing sci- terial that it was and gave us permission to be enthusias- ence. Lyell placed a short exposition on loess in volume 3 and because of the world-wide distribution and relative fame of the book the loess became well known, and many *Corresponding Author: Ian Smalley: Centre for Research in the people speculated about its nature and possible origins [2– Built & Natural Environment, Coventry University, Coventry CV1 4]. 5FP, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; Loess investigation and loess scholarship progressed Email: [email protected] Slobodan B. Markovic: Laboratory for Palaeoenvironmental Re- in many directions, in many disciplines, in many coun- construction, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad tries, in many languages, and with growing levels of sci- 21000, Serbia; Email: [email protected] entific expertise and the development of many interest- Open Access. © 2018 I. Smalley and S. B. Markovic, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License 926 | I. Smalley and S. B. Markovic ing scientific techniques. And, of course, many individuals many climatic cycles that shaped so much of our contem- were involved; an attempt has been made to examine the porary world. course of loess research via the involvement of 100 signif- We can make a case for Liu being a major loess scien- icant individuals [5]. Liu Tungsheng was involved in this tist but we propose an additional virtue. We represent Liu interesting assembly, but he also featured in a more select as a major loess enthusiast; a very necessary and possi- group of loess scholars. bly under-valued role. Loess science advances within an ocean of loess interest, but the level of interest must be kept high. Enthusiasts are needed to promote and encour- 2 Twelve Loess People age the study of loess. We propose Liu as a great loess en- thusiast, and as a setting for the whole idea of loess enthu- siasm we identify Leonard Horner as the first loess enthu- For the 1999 LoessFest Conference an attempt was made siast, a nineteenth century promoter of loess. to identify and discuss twelve individuals who had made really significant contributions to the advance of loess sci- ence [6]. It would be tempting to write.. had made the greatest contribution to loess science.. but this would have 3 Leonard Horner (1785-1864) in been an unreasonable and overly subjective statement. Bonn The twelve made major contributions, among these were probably the most significant advances and paradigm For a capsule biography of Horner (Figure 1) see Martin [7]. changers in loess scholarship. He was present in the important early years of the develop- The 1999 LoessFest was held to celebrate the 175th an- ment of geology, and had a part to play in awakening in- niversary of the announcement of loess by von Leonhard, terest in loess. He spent some time in Bonn and it was this and he was the first of the select twelve. Lyell, the great dis- time which was geologically important in several ways. seminator, was logically next, and then: F.von Richthofen, V.A.Obruchev, John Hardcastle, P. Tutkovskii, L.S.Berg, R.J.Russell, R.Grahmann, J.Fink, Liu Tung sheng and George Kukla. It is fairly easy to encapsulate the achieve- ments which led to inclusion on the list: Richthofen sup- ported the idea of the aeolian deposition of loess material to form deposits, and set in train the aeolian paradigm; Hardcastle pointed out the glacial connection and was also the first to recognise loess as a ‘climate register’, he invented scientific palaeoclimatology; Tutkovskii re- lated loess formation to glacial action; Berg produced a remarkable theory of loess formation via ‘loessification’ and stimulated an amazing amount of discussion; Russell, like Berg, favoured an in-situ mode of formation and pro- voked much loess study; Grahmann produced the first ma- jor loess map- of Europe; Fink organised the INQUA Loess Commission, he provided a framework for loess study and research; Liu Tungsheng pointed the way to precise loess Figure 1: Leonard Horner: print from a crayon drawing by Samuel stratigraphy and demonstrated the true nature of the Qua- Lawrence. ternary; and Kukla related the loess record to the deep ocean record and demonstrated the validity of the loess Horner only spent two years in Bonn, 1831-1833, but record in palaeoclimatology. Liu sits comfortably in this these were significant years; important years in the story of list of major contributors. It can be argued that his was per- the development of loess research. Horner had six daugh- haps the most impressive contribution, he transformed the ters and in 1832 Charles Lyell turned up in Bonn to marry study of loess from small scale sedimentology to a new vi- the oldest, Mary. Charles married Mary and the couple pro- sion of the whole of Quaternary. He provided a new frame- gressed down the Rhine on honeymoon. They stopped in work for Quaternary studies by clearly establishing that Heidelberg and met von Leonhard and Bronn, and looked the Quaternary was a time if multiple events, a time of at the loess [3, 4, 6]. Charles was in the process of prepar- An enthusiasm for loess: Leonard Horner in Bonn and Liu Tungsheng in Beijing | 927 Figure 2: The sketch map by Horner of a region near Bonn, used in volume 3 of Principles of Geology by Charles Lyell. One of the first geo- logical maps of the Eifel region. ing volume 3 of the Principles of Geology and after the Hei- Horner was a great enthusiast for loess and consistent in delberg revelations he made space for a short section on his support of his famous son-in-law. He spent his career loess. Horner became involved in the new realizations of as Government inspector of industry, trying to ensure that loess and he and Lyell made several excursions to see the the workers in the rapidly developing industries in Eng- loess of the locality. When the Horners returned to Eng- land were properly treated and not exploited.
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