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Bluff formation." A coarse columnar structure is often exhibited on the vertical weathered faces of the rock. Another characteristic is the presence throughout the rock of small capillary tubules, which appear to have been occupied by rootlets; these are often lined with See also:

CALCITE

calcite. Typical loess is usually calcareous; some geologists regard this as an essential property, and when the rock has become decalcified, as it frequently is on the See also:

SURFACE

surface by weathering, they See also:

CALL (from Anglo-Saxon ceallian, a common Teutonic word, cf. Dutch kallen, to talk or chatter)

call it " loess-loam " (losslehm). In the See also:

LOWER

lower portions of a loess deposit the See also:

CALCIUM [symbol Ca, atomic weight 40.0 (o= x6)]

calcium carbonate tends to See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form concretions, which on See also:

account of their mimetic forms have received such names as lOsskindchen, losspuppen, poupees du loess, " loess dolls." In deposits of this nature in See also:

South See also:

AMERICA

America these concretionary masses form distinct beds. Bedding is absent from typical loess. The See also:

MINERAL

mineral See also:

composition of loess varies somewhat in different regions, but the particles are always small; they consist of angular grains of See also:

QUARTZ

quartz, See also:

FINE

fine particles of hydrated silicates of alumina, See also:

MICA

mica scales and undecomposed fragments of See also:

FELSPAR, or FELDSPAR

felspar, See also:

HORNBLENDE

hornblende and other rock-forming silicates. In See also:

EUROPE

Europe and America loess deposits are associated with the margins of the See also:

GREAT

great See also:

ICE (a word common to Teutonic languages; cf. Ger. Eis)

ice sheets of the glacial See also:

period; thus in Europe they stretch irregularly through the centre eastwards from the See also:

north-See also:

west of See also:

France, and are not found north of the 57th parallel. In both regions loess deposits are found within and upon glacial deposits.

For this See also:

REASON (Lat. ratio, through French raison)

reason the loess is very commonly assigned to the See also:

PLEISTOCENE

Pleistocene period; but some of the loess deposits of See also:

NORTHERN

northern Europe have been in See also:

PROCESS

process of formation intermittently from the See also:

MIOCENE

Miocene period onward, and in South America the great loess formations known as the Pampean or Patagonian belong to the See also:

EOCENE (Gr. *In, dawn, icauvos, recent)

Eocene, Oligocene and Pleistocene periods. Most geologists are agreed that the loess is an aeolian or See also:

wind-See also:

BORNE, KARL LUDWIG (1786–1837)

borne rock, formed most probably during periods of See also:

TUNDRA (a Russian word, signifying a marshy plain)

tundra or See also:

STEPPE (from the Russ. stepi, a waste)

steppe conditions. The capillary tubules are supposed to have been caused by the roots of grass and herbage which kept growing upon the surface even while the deposit was slowly increasing. Others contend that loess is of the nature of alluvial loam; this may be true of certain deposits classed as loess, but it cannot be true of most of the typical loess formations, for they See also:

lie upon older rocks quite independently of See also:

ALTITUDE (Lat. altitudo, from altus, high)

altitude, from near See also:

sea level up to 5000 ft. in Europe and to 11,500 ft. in China; they are often See also:

DEVELOPED

developed on one See also:

side of a See also:

mountain range and not upon the other, and in a See also:

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of approximately parallel valleys the loess is frequently found lying upon one side and that the same in each See also:

case, facts pointing to the agency of prevalent winds. The thickness of loess deposits is usually not more than 33 ft., but in China it reaches woo ft. or more; it also attains a great thickness in South America. Numerous proboscidian and other mammalian fossils have been found in the loess of Europe; the See also:

TAPIR

tapir, See also:

MASTODON (Gr. µavTos, breast, &bobs, tooth)

mastodon and See also:

GIANT (O.E. geant, through Fr. giant, O.Fr. gaiant, jaiant, jeant, med. pop. Lat. gagante—cf. Ital. gigante—by assimilation from gigantem, ace. of Lat. gigas, Gr. yiyas)

giant sloths occur in South America, but the most See also:

COMMON

common fossils are small See also:

LAND

land shells and such amphibious See also:

pond forms as Succinea. Certain loess deposits in See also:

Turkestan have been attributed to See also:

RAIN (O.E. regn; the word is common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Regen, Swed. and Dan. regn; it has been connected with Lat. rigare, to wet, Gr. 13pixeav)

rain-See also:

WASH, THE

wash, this is the so-called " See also:

lake-loess " (see-loss) ; according to Tukowski the difference between sub-aerial and lake loess is that the former is porous, dry and pervious, while the latter is laminated, plastic and impervious. Two types of loess have been recognized in See also:

Russia, the See also:

Hill- or See also:

TERRACE (Fr. terrace, terrasse, from It. terraccia, terrazzo, Lat. terra, earth)

Terrace-loess and the See also:

Low-level-loess, a product of the weathering of underlying rocks. In South See also:

Germany the following See also:

order has been recognized: (1) an upper unbedded, non-calcareous loess, (2) the gehangloss, mixed w'ah subsoil rocks, and (3) the See also:

sand or thal-loss, with some See also:

GRAVEL, or PEBBLE BEDS

gravel. The effect of vegetation on the upper layers of loess is to produce soils of great fertility, such as the See also:

black See also:

earth (Tschernozom) of See also:

SOUTHERN

southern Russia, the dark Bordeloss of the See also:

MAGDEBURG

Magdeburg See also:

DISTRICT

district, and the black " See also:

cotton See also:

SOIL

soil " (regur) of the See also:

DECCAN (Sans. Dakshina, " the South ")

Deccan.

End of Article: LOESS (Ger. Loss)

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