LOESS RESEARCH GROUP

The beginnings of loess research at the Department of Geography, Tourism, and Hotel Management can be traced back to the work of academician Branislav Bukurov. However, systematic research into loess-paleosol sequences began in 1997 with the establishment of the Loess Sediment Research Group at the Department of Geography, Tourism, and Hotel Management. Within a relatively short time, the research results of the Group members have led to the recognition of loess sediments in Serbia as one of the most complete and detailed archives of climatic and ecological changes on the European continent over the past million years. In addition to the study of loess in Serbia, the Group has also conducted several research expeditions in Germany, Romania, Hungary, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. The Loess Research Group is considered the most successful research team in the field of geography in Serbia (based on the number of papers published in SCI-indexed journals and citations).

In 2006, the international conference “Danubius Pannonico Mysicus – Space of Challenges, Danube Loess Symposium” was organised in Novi Sad, co-organized with INQUA (International Union for Quaternary Research). The papers presented at this conference were published in a special issue of the journal Quaternary International (Volume 198, Issues 1-2, Pages 1-266, April 2009; Loess in the Danube Region and Surrounding Loess Provinces: The Marsigli Memorial Volume, edited by Slobodan B. Marković, Ian J. Smalley, Ulrich Hambach, and Pierre Antoine).

In late August and early September 2009, Novi Sad hosted “Loessfest’09,” the most significant global conference dedicated to various aspects of loess research, traditionally held every 10 years. More information about this conference can be found here.

Research Group Members

  • Dr. Slobodan Marković, Full Professor, slobodan.markovic@dgt.uns.ac.rs, tel: +381 21 485 2837, fax: +381 21 459 696
  • Dr. Lazar Lazić, Full Professor
  • Dr. Mlađen Jovanović, Associate Professor
  • Dr. Stevan Savić, Full Professor
  • Dr. Biljana Basarin, Full Professor
  • Dr. Tivadar Gaudenyi
  • Mr. Dragan Popov, PhD Student
  • Dr. Đorđije Vasiljević, Associate Professor
  • Dr. Tin Lukić, Associate Professor
  • Nebojša Milojković, PhD Student
  • Dr. Milica Radaković, assistant

Project Management:

  • Loess-Paleosol Sequences of Vojvodina – Key to Understanding Paleoclimatic and Paleoecological Transitions on the European Continent
    Funded by the Provincial Secretariat for Science and Technological Development, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina; Project Number: 114-451-00754
    Duration: 2007-2008
    Project Lead: Slobodan Marković

  • Loess Plateaus of Serbia
    Ministry of Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia
    Project Number: 146019
    Duration: 2006-2010
    Project Lead: Jovan Romelić

Participation in Projects:

  • Loess Research in Serbia
    Federal German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
    Grant MOE 04/R01
    Duration: 2004-2005
    Coordinators: Ludwig Zöller, University of Bayreuth, Germany, and Slobodan Marković

Collaborations:

  • Soil Physics Department and Chair of Geomorphology, University of Bayreuth;
  • Leibniz Institute for Applied Geosciences (GGA-Institute) S3;
  • Geochronology and Isotope Hydrology, Hannover (Germany);
  • Department of Geology and Paleontology, University of Szeged, Szeged (Hungary);
  • Department of Geology, University of Pecs (Hungary);
  • Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam (The Netherlands);
  • Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY;
  • Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst;
  • MA Department of Natural & Applied Sciences, Bentley College, Waltham (USA);
  • Laboratoire de Géographyie Physique, Meudon;
  • Ecole Normale Supérieure, Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique & CERES-ERTI, Paris
  • Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement, Gif-sur-Yvette (France);
  • Department of Geography, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John, Newfoundland (Canada);
  • Laboratory of Mineralogy and Petrology (Luminescence Research Group), Geological Institute, Ghent University (Belgium);
  • Giotto Loess Research Group, Waverley Materials Project, Nottingham Trent University (UK);
  • Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey (UK);
  • Institute of Geophysics, ETH Hönggerberg, Zürich (Switzerland).

Selected References:

  1. Marković, S.B., Oches, E.A., Jovanović, M., Gaudenyi, T., Hambach, U., Zöller, L., Sümegi, P., 2004. Paleoclimate record in the Late Pleistocene loess-paleosol sequence at Miseluk (Vojvodina, Serbia). Quaternaire 15, 4: 361-368.

  2. Marković S.B., Kostić N., Oches E.A., 2004b. Paleosols in the Ruma loess section. Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas 21, 79-87.

  3. Marković, S.B., Mihajlović, D., Oches, E.A., Jovanović, M., Gaudenyi, T., 2004c. The last glacial climate, environment and evidence of palaeolithic occupation in Vojvodina province, Serbia: an overview. Antaeus 26, 307-317.

  4. Marković, S.B., McCoy, W.D., Oches, E.A., Savić, S., Gaudenyi, T., Jovanović, M., Stevens, T., Walther, R., Ivanišević, P., Galić, Z. 2005. Paleoclimate record in the Late Pleistocene loess-paleosol sequence at Petrovaradin Brickyard (Vojvodina, Serbia). Geologica Carpathica 56, 483-491.

  5. Marković, S.B., Oches, E., Sümegi, P., Jovanović, M., Gaudenyi, T. 2006. An introduction to the Upper and Middle Pleistocene loess-paleosol sequences of Ruma section (Vojvodina, Serbia). Quaternary International 149, 80-86.

  6. Machalett, B., Frechen, M., Hambach, U., Oches, E.A., Zöller, L., Marković, S.B. 2006. Results of luminescence dating of the long loess sequence of Remisowka, Nortern Boundary of Tien-Shan Mountains, Kazakhstan. Quaternary International 152-153, 203-212.

  7. Marković, S.B., Oches, E.A., McCoy, W.D., Gaudenyi, T., Frechen, M. 2007. Malacological and sedimentological evidence for “warm” climate from the Irig loess sequence (Vojvodina, Serbia). Geophysics, Geochemistry and Geosystems 8, Q09008, DOI: 10.1029/2006GC001565.

  8. Hambach, U., Marković, S.B., Rolf, C., Zöller, L. 2008. Paläo- und umwelt magnetische Untersuchungen an Sedimenten der Bohrung Frankenbach. In: 600.000 Jahre Zeitgeschichte am Necker. Hansch W., Rosendahl, W. (eds.), Städtiche Mussen Heilbronn, Museo 24, 68-76.

  9. Marković, S.B., Bokhorst, M, Vandenberghe, J., Oches, E.A., Zöller, L., McCoy, W.D., Gaudenyi, T., Jovanović, M., Hambach, U., Machalett, B. 2008. Late Pleistocene loess-paleosol sequences in the Vojvodina region, North Serbia. Journal of Quaternary Science 23, 73-84.

  10. Fuchs, M., Rousseau D.D., Antoine, P., Hatte, C., Gautier, C., Marković, S.B., Zöller, L. 2008. High resolution chonology of the upper Pleistocene loess/paleosol sequence at Surduk, Vojvodina, Serbia. Boreas 37, 66-73.

  11. Buggle, B., Glaser, B., Hambach, U., Marković, S.B., Gerasimenko, N., Glaser, I., Zöller, L. 2008. Geochemical characterization and provenance of South-East and East European loesses (Serbia, Romania, Ukraine). Quaternary Science Reviews 27, 1058-1075.

  12. Machalett, B., Oches, E.A., Frechen, M., Zöller, L., Hambach, U., Mavlyanova, N. G., Marković, S.B., Endlicher, W. 2008. Aeolian dust dynamics in Central Asia during the Pleistocene – driven by the long-term migration, seasonality and permanency of the Asiatic polar front. Geophysics, Geochemistry and Geosystems 9, Q08Q09, doi:10.1029/2007GC001938.

  13. Buggle, B., Hambach, U., Glaser, B., Gerasimenko, N., Marković, S.B., Glaser, I., Zöller, L. 2009. Magnetic susceptibility stratigraphy and spatial and temporal paleoclimatic trends in East European loess paleosol sequences. Quaternary International 196, 86-106.

  14. Marković, S.B., Hambach, U., Catto, N., Jovanović, M., Buggle, B., Machalett, B., Zöller, L., Glaser, B. Frechen, M. 2009. The middle and late Pleistocene loess-paleosol sequences at Batajanica, Vojvodina, Serbia. Quaternary International 198, 255-266.