The Jerzy Cegla Project: a joint project involving-
Department of Physical Geography,
Institute of Geography & Regional Management,
University of Wroclaw,
34 Cybulskiego St.
50-137 Wroclaw, Poland
Centre for Loess Research & Documentation,
School of Geology, Geography & the Environment,
University of Leicester,
Leicester LE1 7RH, UK.
Three parts to the project: (1) Cegla died in an accident in 1984, much work was lost. We plan to ensure that his contributions to loess research continue to be appreciated, (2) Cegla was an investigator of the nature of loess material and the processes which affect it, in particular the circumstances of loess deposition formed an unappreciated part of his work, (3) it looks as though the focus of loess research on stratigraphy is shifting slightly and that emphasis is growing on the study of processes in loess ground. We follow the Cegla direction and look at the nature and properties of loess ground.
Somebody once asked James Boswell why he wrote so continuously and with such vigour. Boswell replied that he was doing his best to defeat 'the forces of oblivion'. A very valid aim, to be carried into the world of loess studies. Cegla (and other writes on loess) will not suffer the obloquy of oblivion.
The accessible parts of the Cegla oeuvre are the parts republished in the Benchmark 26 collection:
Smalley, I.J. (ed.) 1975. Loess: Lithology & Genesis. Dowden Hutchinson & Ross 425p. Papers 47 and 48 are the Cegla contribution. The major Cegla work is:
Cegla, J. 1972. Sedymentacja Lessow Polski. Acta Universitatis Wratislaviensis no.168: Studia Geograficzne 17, 71p. (in Polish but with extensive English summary)