Loess: Rock, sediment or soil - What is missing for its definition?

摘要

Loess is commonly defined as an accumulation of windblown silt. However, the complex mechanisms that are responsible for most of the structural characteristics of loess require a more precise explanation. The common definition of loess ignores a set of processes that start during and after the subaerial deposition of silt. The term loessification has been used by a number of authors to refer to the quasi-pedogenic/quasi-diagenetic processes that result in the typical aggregation of loess; however these mechanisms are rarely described in detail. Depending on the researcher's background, loess is classified as sediment, soil or rock.