Marsigli & Loess; The First Loess Section

Count Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli (1658-1730) published the first picture of loess in 1726..

This was figure 35 in the first volume of his great work on the Danube; Danubius Pannonico Mysicus. Observations made many years earlier but finally published in 1726 in six volumes. In volume 1 we have the picture of the Danubian loess; a section beside the River Danube. Its in the section of volume 1 called 'Hydrographicam', the critical picture is on page 63.
A:  Ripa terra fructifera pinguis nigra et cretacea (black fertile carbonate soil)
B:  Terra Nigra, Pinguis, Fructifera  (black fertile soil)
C:  Terra Lutosa, Cineriara et in fragmenta Cretacea friabilis (yellow layer with carbonate fragments aka Loess.)

This critical figure has been discussed by Markovic et al (2004, 2009)- and its significance pointed out. The redrafting of the Marsigli figure allowed the introduction of some small errors in the placement of the A, B and C symbols, and some confusion may have been caused.

Markovic, S.B., Kostic, N.S., Oches, E.A. 2004.  Paleosols in the Ruma loess section (Vojvodina, Serbia).  Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Geologicas 21, 79-87.

Markovic, S.B., Smalley, IJ., Hambach, U., Antoine, P.  2009.  Loess in the Danube region and surrounding provinces: the Marsigli memorial volume.  Quaternary International 198, 5-6.

Frontispiece to Volume one of 'Danubius Pannonico Mysicus' . Hydrological research is undertaken at a Danubian site near to UNS. (note: the attribution of this figure has been questioned ).