Karl Caesar von Leonhard (1779e1862), and the beginnings of loess research in the Rhine valley Mladen Jovanovi  c a , Tivadar Gaudenyi b , Ken O’Hara-Dhand c , Ian Smalley c, * a Physical Geography Section, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia b Geographical Institute ‘Jovan Cvijic’, Serbian Academy of Sciences & Arts, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia c Giotto Loess Research Group, Geography Department, Leicester University, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK article info Article history: Available online 10 February 2013 abstract The term ‘Loess’ entered the scientific vocabulary in 1824 in section 89 of ‘Charakteristik der Felsarten’ by Karl Caesar von Leonhard (a two page definition and description, plus details of a few locations). The term had been used before 1824, but Leonhard places it firmly into the literature. There were alter- natives; Leonhard made a choice. Interest in loess developed in the early 1820s, perhaps in association with interest in the geology of the Rhine volcanoes. Possibly the first fairly detailed study of loess was by H.G. Bronn in 1830. After 1830 Hibbert, Horner and Lyell carried forward the study/appreciation of loess in English. Charles Lyell (in Principles of Geology) listed ten pioneers: Bronn, Leonhard, Boue, Voltz, Noeggerath, Steininger, Merian, Rozet, Von Meyer and Hibbert. Early ideas of loess formation emphasized the role of deposition from water, perhaps influenced by the advocacy of Boue for continent wide inundations. Leonhard was an important figure and deserves his position as the most significant loess pioneer. Lyell was largely responsible for the spread of interest in loess, via The Principles of Geology. Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. “How very extraordinary that loess is? It has not been half attended to.” Leonard Horner, 1832 1. Introduction Our aim is to explore the background to the naming and defining and the early investigation of loess. It is perforce a Euro- pean affair. We place the key moment in the naming and definition of loess as the publication of ‘Charakteristic der Felsarten’(CdF) by Karl Caesar von Leonhard in 1824. Section 89 was called “Loess”, and it appears that Leonhard chose this name from a selection of possible epithets. CdF is a list, a comprehensive catalogue of rock and mineral types, a description of the varieties of ground material e.g. 64 Grauwacke, 67 Bunter Sandstein, 69 Greensand, 71 Molasse, 77 Trass, 85 Sand, and, in particular, 89 Loess. Another aim is to shine a light on Lyell’s ten loess people. Charles Lyell is given much of the credit for popularising the idea of loess via the section in vol.3 of Principles of Geology (1834, see Lyell on Loess 1986); he mentions his loessic debt to ten people, all of whom deserve some investigation and illumination, or at least a mention. Lyell was quite punctilious about acknowledging his debt to this group of scholars, so we might assume that it is a comprehensive list of the key people involved in the early days of loess inves- tigation: Bronn, Leonhard, Boue, Voltz, Noeggerath, Steininger, Merian, Rozet, Von Meyer, and Hibbert; representing Lyell’s Loess Legion, or just possibly the Britz Bloc. There are two roles to be emphasized here; both are important and complementary. Leonhard took the first step, but his initiative was supported by Lyell and it is Lyell who spread the word, in a very effective fashion, and was a true ‘facilitator’ in the field of loess investigation. Lyell was a member of a very influential geological ‘establishment’ and many of his acquaintances took an interest in loess. Of these, Horner and Hibbert certainly deserve some con- sideration, and a place in the study of the history of the inves- tigation of loess. 2. Horner Horner (1836) wrote on the geology of the environs of Bonn. Leonard Horner and family lived in Bonn for a few years at the beginning of the 1830s, and he was Charles Lyell’s father-in-law. That was why Lyell went to Bonn to get married in 1832, to Mary Horner, * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: mladen.jovanovic@dgt.uns.ac.rs (M. Jovanovi c), tiv@ neobee.com (T. Gaudenyi), kod2@le.ac.uk (K. O’Hara-Dhand), ijs4@le.ac.uk (I. Smalley). Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Quaternary International journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/quaint 1040-6182/$ e see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2013.02.003 Quaternary International 334-335 (2014) 4e9