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Studies in the History of Natural Sciences  2019, Vol. 38 Issue (2): 200-214    DOI:
ARTICLES     
Raphael Pumpelly and the Modern Geology of China Loess
DING Hong
Academy of Marxism and Leninism, Taiyuan University of Engineering, Taiyuan 030024, China;
Institute for History of Natural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
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Abstract  Loess is the most important aeolian deposit of the Quaternary. China has the most continuous and thickest loess area in the world. Raphael Pumpelly (1837-1923) was the first geologist to conduct a survey of loess in China and put forward the "lacustrine" hypothesis about its origin. For a long time, scholars have ignored the academic significance of the "lacustrine" hypothesis, and failed to clarify Pumpelly's academic contributions and the place of the "lacustrine" hypothesis in the history of loess studies in China. This paper is based on Pumpelly's My Reminiscences, Across America and Asia, Geological Researches in China, Mongolia and Japan during the Years 1862 to 1865 and Biographical Memoir of Raphael Pumpelly 1837 to 1923 by B. Willis. Based on his life and academic achievements, considering in particular the proposition, revision and influence of this hypothesis and its origins and evolution, this paper clarifies Pumpelly's academic value and contribution and his "lacustrine" hypothesis in the history of Chinese and Western loess studies.

Key words： Raphael Pumpelly      Lacustrine      Ferdinand Freiherr von Richthofen      Loess      China     
Received: 03 April 2019      Published: 18 June 2022
ZTFLH:  N09  
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DING Hong. Raphael Pumpelly and the Modern Geology of China Loess. Studies in the History of Natural Sciences, 2019, 38(2): 200-214.

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http://www.shns.ac.cn/     OR     http://www.shns.ac.cn/Y2019/V38/I2/200

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