175 years of loess research in Germany - long records and "unconformities"

Loess research in Germany has a long tradition dating back to the early wor ks of von Leonhard [von Leonhard, K.C., 1823/1824. Charakteristik der Felsa rten. 3 Bde., 772 S. Heidelberg (J. Engelmann).] and his contemporary geosc ientists. Ever since that time, German researchers and loess research withi n Germany have provided important contributions to the international 'state of the art'. To date, however, perceptual "unconformities" have existed in both the continuity of loess research in Germany and the interpretation of the loess record in both the palaeoecological and the stratigraphic sense. This paper briefly highlights some relevant periods of loess research in G ermany and the approaches adopted, from the early days to the present. The development of a refined stratigraphy of the last glacial loess in Germany during the second half of the 20th century is reviewed in the contribution by A. Semmel. Fundamental contributions were first published by Schonhals, Freising and Brunnacker. In the course of the subsequent work of the Loess Commission of the International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA), the stratigraphy of the Wurmian loess has since been refined in almost all loes s regions of Germany, and schemes consistent in their fundamental features have been published. In recent years, contributions have focussed on age de termination, in particular those based on luminescence dating techniques. ( C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.