Samuel Hibbert in Edinburgh; early studies on loess deposits- connecting Leonhard and Lyell

Abstract

Samuel Hibbert (1782–1848) published his book ‘History of the Extinct Volcanos of the Basin of Neuwied, on the Lower Rhine’ in 1832. This book contained some of the first references to loess deposits in the geological literature. It also contained a detailed geological map of the region around the Laacher See which showed the distribution of the loess. Hibbert had some influence on Charles Lyell and was acknowledged in the brief loess section when volume 3 of the Principles of Geology was published in 1833. Loess was effectively announced in 1824 by Karl Caesar von Leonhard in Heidelberg, and made well known by Lyell in 1833. Between 1824 and 1833 Hibbert produced some of the first studies in English. He was a student at Edinburgh University at the same time as Ami Boue (c.1815–1818) and he was much influenced by Boue, on basins, on large floods, and on the nature of loess. He deserves to be recognised as a significant loess pioneer; he was included in the list of loessic savants produced by Lyell in 1833: Leonhard, Bronn, Boue, Voltz, Steininger, Merian, Rozet, Hibbert. He eventually had an unfortunate relationship with Lyell (and other geologists) and the loessic link was soon severed. The 1832 book was his only loessic contribution to geo-scholarship.