INQUA Loess Focus Group Meeting 2013

In honour of Professor Ian Smalley: 'Loess & Dust: Geography-Geology-Archaeology'

Venue: The University of Leicester, Leicester UK, 10th-12th September 2013

Professor Ian SmalleyA meeting dedicated to interfaces between the various involved disciplines; also focussing on new regions where loess exploration and investigation is happening, geotechnical aspects of loess and new techniques to date and characterise loess material, and in particular aiming to look at the human/loess interface. Loess had a critical role to play in the development of human society.

The meeting will be held in honour of Professor Ian Smalley for his outstanding contribution to loess research over more than fifty years. Ian “pioneered fundamental studies of loess origin, lithologic characteristics and depositional processes” (Dodonov and Zhou, 2008).

Conference information

Confirmed highlights of the workshop so far include: our keynote speakers –

  • Professor Randy Schaetzl (Michigan State University): Loess deposits in the Midwestern United States: Geography matters!
  • Professor Ian Smalley (The University of Leicester): Loess: then, now, tomorrow, eventually

In addition, there will be tributes to Ian Smalley paid by Professor Claudio Vita Finzi (Natural History Museum) and Dr James Kwong (Yogi Kwong Engineers).

Also, we aim to run sessions that focus on the following topics:

  1. A plenary session - in honour of Professor Smalley's research;
  2. The reconstruction of loess environments through the Quaternary;
  3. Landscape evolution and loess;
  4. New chronological methods;
  5. Loess geomagnetism;
  6. Novel geochemical analytical techniques;
  7. Geoarchaeology and loess;
  8. Humans and dust in the modern landscape;
  9. Eurasian loess
  10. North American loess;
  11. Loess around the Mediterranean.
Abstract submission and registration

If you are wishing to present a paper or poster please follow the abstract guidelines. You are also obliged to fill in the Registration Form in order to participate the event. Please send your registration forms and abstracts to:

INQUA-LOESS2013@mail.cfs.le.ac.uk

For all information and inquiries please do not hesitate to contact us:

How to get to Leicester - Transport & Accommodation

Details on how to get to Leicester and the Department of Geography can be found at http://www2.le.ac.uk/maps
Car parks are also marked on the University of Leicester Map

For accommodation in Leicester please check the list of recommended hotels