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ABSTRACT M. VIOLET D'AOUEST read a note at a late meeting of the Geographical Society of Paris on aerial formations on the soil. Referring to Richthofen's discovery of a vast
aerial formation of loess in China, M. d'Aouest described meteoric formations which he had himself examined in Mexico. In 1857 he made a communication on this subject to the Society; he
found in the flanks of the most elevated mountains argillaceous deposits, which could not be attributed to decomposition of the rocks there, or to the alluvion deposited by rivers, or by
the rain. He referred them after investigation to atmospheric currents. In the day the winds raised the particles from the plains and carried them at night to the hills, depositing them
there. In course of time these deposits had reached a thickness of thirty to fifty and in places a hundred metres. The upper part, which was generally finer, stopped at the limit of
herbaceous vegetation, for beyond this there was nothing to retain the particles, which were carried down by rains, glaciers, snow, or winds to the lower part. Fifteen years later he heard
of Richthofen's publication on the subject, and Col. Prjevalsky during his late journeys in Thibet states that analogous aerial deposits are now being formed under the influence of
powerful winds which prevail at these altitudes. Subsequently M. d'Aouest met Baron Richthofen and discussed the subject with him, when the latter stated that these formations exist in
Europe, adding that it was singular how men, unknown to and far removed from each other, could be led to make the same discoveries in wholly different regions. M. d'Aouest now intends
publishing a translation of Richthofen's monograph on the subject, with a supplement of his own containing a number of important documents which he has collected on these deposits. He
thinks he will be able to explain loess and argillaceous deposits, the origin of which has hitherto been regarded as problematical, by this theory. Access through your institution Buy or
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permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE _Geographical Notes_ . _Nature_ 32, 376 (1885). https://doi.org/10.1038/032376a0 Download citation * Issue Date: 20 August 1885 * DOI:
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