Thomas Stevens
Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor in Physical geography at Department of Earth Sciences; Program for Air, Water and Landscape Sciences; Physical Geography
- Telephone:
- +46 18 471 17 88
- E-mail:
- thomas.stevens@geo.uu.se
- Visiting address:
- Geocentrum, Villavägen 16
752 36 Uppsala - Postal address:
- Villavägen 16
752 36 UPPSALA
- Academic merits:
- Docent
Short presentation
My main reseach interests lie in understanding the interaction of climate, surface processes and tectonics over Cenzoic-Quaternary timescales. A major focus is on terrestrial loess deposits of wind-blown dust in China and Eastern Europe and their provenance, age and climate record.
Keywords
- dust
- loess
- provenance
- luminescence
- past climate
- age dating
- landscape climate interaction
- abrupt climate change

Publications
Recent publications
Part of Journal of Geophysical Research - Solid Earth, 2025
Part of Quaternary Geochronology, 2024
Absolute dating of sediments forming the Lena river terraces (Northeastern Siberia)
Part of Quaternary Geochronology, 2024
Cryogenic features and stages in Late Quaternary subaerial sediments of the Lower Volga region
Part of Quaternary Research, p. 3-17, 2024
Part of Quaternary Research, p. 18-35, 2024
- DOI for Implications of the geochemistry of L1LL1 (MIS2) loess in Poland for paleoenvironment and new normalizing values for loess-focused multi-elemental analyses
- Download full text (pdf) of Implications of the geochemistry of L1LL1 (MIS2) loess in Poland for paleoenvironment and new normalizing values for loess-focused multi-elemental analyses
All publications
Articles in journal
Part of Journal of Geophysical Research - Solid Earth, 2025
Part of Quaternary Geochronology, 2024
Absolute dating of sediments forming the Lena river terraces (Northeastern Siberia)
Part of Quaternary Geochronology, 2024
Cryogenic features and stages in Late Quaternary subaerial sediments of the Lower Volga region
Part of Quaternary Research, p. 3-17, 2024
Part of Quaternary Research, p. 18-35, 2024
- DOI for Implications of the geochemistry of L1LL1 (MIS2) loess in Poland for paleoenvironment and new normalizing values for loess-focused multi-elemental analyses
- Download full text (pdf) of Implications of the geochemistry of L1LL1 (MIS2) loess in Poland for paleoenvironment and new normalizing values for loess-focused multi-elemental analyses
Mineral magnetism and palaeoenvironment recorded in loess in southern England
Part of Journal of Quaternary Science, p. 710-728, 2024
- DOI for Mineral magnetism and palaeoenvironment recorded in loess in southern England
- Download full text (pdf) of Mineral magnetism and palaeoenvironment recorded in loess in southern England
Combined optically stimulated luminescence and radiocarbon dating of aeolian dunes in Arctic Sweden
Part of Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, p. 172-187, 2024
- DOI for Combined optically stimulated luminescence and radiocarbon dating of aeolian dunes in Arctic Sweden
- Download full text (pdf) of Combined optically stimulated luminescence and radiocarbon dating of aeolian dunes in Arctic Sweden
Part of Quaternary Science Reviews, 2024
Part of Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, p. 110-126, 2024
- DOI for Absolute 230Th/U chronologies and Δ47 thermometry paleoclimate reconstruction from soil carbonates in Central Asian loess over the past 1 million years
- Download full text (pdf) of Absolute 230Th/U chronologies and Δ47 thermometry paleoclimate reconstruction from soil carbonates in Central Asian loess over the past 1 million years
Introduction to special issue: loess environments: generation, transport, and deposition
Part of Quaternary Research, p. 1-2, 2024
Part of Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres, 2024
- DOI for Spatial Source Contribution and Interannual Variation in Deposition of Dust Aerosols Over the Chinese Loess Plateau
- Download full text (pdf) of Spatial Source Contribution and Interannual Variation in Deposition of Dust Aerosols Over the Chinese Loess Plateau
Part of Quaternary Geochronology, p. 101563-101563, 2024
Äldre rödgods från Studentholmen i Uppsala
Part of META - Historiskarkeologisk tidskrift, p. 61-78, 2024
Part of Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, 2024
- DOI for Modern-type Paleogene Eolian Regime and Global Cooling-Modulated Dust Provenance in Late Paleogene of Central-East Asia
- Download full text (pdf) of Modern-type Paleogene Eolian Regime and Global Cooling-Modulated Dust Provenance in Late Paleogene of Central-East Asia
Part of npj Climate and Atmospheric Science, 2024
- DOI for A comprehensive dataset of luminescence chronologies and environmental proxy indices of loess-paleosol deposits across Asia
- Download full text (pdf) of A comprehensive dataset of luminescence chronologies and environmental proxy indices of loess-paleosol deposits across Asia
Thin loess in Southwestern Sweden
Part of GFF, p. 182-201, 2023
- DOI for Thin loess in Southwestern Sweden
- Download full text (pdf) of Thin loess in Southwestern Sweden
Part of Global and Planetary Change, 2023
- DOI for Neogene global climate change and East Asian dust sources: Combined rutile geochemistry and zircon U Pb analysis from the northern Chinese Loess Plateau
- Download full text (pdf) of Neogene global climate change and East Asian dust sources: Combined rutile geochemistry and zircon U Pb analysis from the northern Chinese Loess Plateau
Part of Quaternary Science Reviews, 2023
- DOI for High-resolution OSL dating of loess in Adventdalen, Svalbard: Late Holocene dust activity and permafrost development
- Download full text (pdf) of High-resolution OSL dating of loess in Adventdalen, Svalbard: Late Holocene dust activity and permafrost development
Defining paleoclimatic routes and opportunities for hominin dispersals across Iran
Part of PLOS ONE, 2023
- DOI for Defining paleoclimatic routes and opportunities for hominin dispersals across Iran
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Part of Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, p. 22-36, 2023
- DOI for Geographic object‐based image analysis (GEOBIA) of the distribution and characteristics of aeolian sand dunes in Arctic Sweden
- Download full text (pdf) of Geographic object‐based image analysis (GEOBIA) of the distribution and characteristics of aeolian sand dunes in Arctic Sweden
Greenland ice core record of last glacial dust sources and atmospheric circulation
Part of Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres, 2022
- DOI for Greenland ice core record of last glacial dust sources and atmospheric circulation
- Download full text (pdf) of Greenland ice core record of last glacial dust sources and atmospheric circulation
Part of Science Advances, 2022
- DOI for Large-number detrital zircon U-Pb ages reveal global cooling caused the formation of the Chinese Loess Plateau during Late Miocene
- Download full text (pdf) of Large-number detrital zircon U-Pb ages reveal global cooling caused the formation of the Chinese Loess Plateau during Late Miocene
Part of Frontiers in Earth Science, 2022
- DOI for Revisiting Late Pleistocene Loess–Paleosol Sequences in the Azov Sea Region of Russia: Chronostratigraphy and Paleoenvironmental Record
- Download full text (pdf) of Revisiting Late Pleistocene Loess–Paleosol Sequences in the Azov Sea Region of Russia: Chronostratigraphy and Paleoenvironmental Record
Part of Earth-Science Reviews, 2022
- DOI for The provenance of late Cenozoic East Asian Red Clay: Tectonic-metamorphic history of potential source regions and a novel combined zircon-rutile approach
- Download full text (pdf) of The provenance of late Cenozoic East Asian Red Clay: Tectonic-metamorphic history of potential source regions and a novel combined zircon-rutile approach
Part of Global and Planetary Change, 2022
- DOI for Quaternary sediment sources and loess transport pathways in the Black Sea - Caspian Sea region identified by detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology
- Download full text (pdf) of Quaternary sediment sources and loess transport pathways in the Black Sea - Caspian Sea region identified by detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology
The provenance of Danubian loess
Part of Earth-Science Reviews, p. 103920, 2022
- DOI for The provenance of Danubian loess
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LoessFest 2018, Volgograd, Russia
Part of Quaternary International, p. 1-3, 2022
Part of Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2022
Part of Geophysical Research Letters, 2022
Age, formation and significance of loess deposits in central Sweden
Part of Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, p. 3276-3301, 2022
- DOI for Age, formation and significance of loess deposits in central Sweden
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A detailed luminescence chronology of the Lower Volga loess-palaeosol sequence at Leninsk
Part of Quaternary Geochronology, 2022
Dataset of dust mass accumulation rates for the loess-palaeosol sequences from the Carpathian Basin
Part of Data in Brief, 2022
Chinese loess and the Asian monsoon: What we know and what remains unknown
Part of Quaternary International, p. 85-97, 2022
Part of Quaternary Science Reviews, p. 107804-107804, 2022
- DOI for Eurasian Ice Sheet derived meltwater pulses and their role in driving atmospheric dust activity: Late Quaternary loess sources in SE England
- Download full text (pdf) of Eurasian Ice Sheet derived meltwater pulses and their role in driving atmospheric dust activity: Late Quaternary loess sources in SE England
Dominant precessional forcing of the East Asian summer monsoon since 260 ka
Part of Geology, p. 1372-1376, 2022
Part of Quaternary, 2022
- DOI for Comparison of High-Resolution 14C and Luminescence-Based Chronologies of the MIS 2 Madaras Loess/Paleosol Sequence, Hungary: Implications for Chronological Studies
- Download full text (pdf) of Comparison of High-Resolution 14C and Luminescence-Based Chronologies of the MIS 2 Madaras Loess/Paleosol Sequence, Hungary: Implications for Chronological Studies
Part of Earth-Science Reviews, p. 104200-104200, 2022
Part of Global and Planetary Change, 2022
- DOI for Detailed luminescence dating of dust mass accumulation rates over the last two glacial-interglacial cycles from the Irig loess-palaeosol sequence, Carpathian Basin
- Download full text (pdf) of Detailed luminescence dating of dust mass accumulation rates over the last two glacial-interglacial cycles from the Irig loess-palaeosol sequence, Carpathian Basin
Part of Forum Geografi, p. 39-53, 2022
- DOI for Searching for potential multi-hazard events during the last 1.5 million years of the Pleistocene epoch
- Download full text (pdf) of Searching for potential multi-hazard events during the last 1.5 million years of the Pleistocene epoch
First high-resolution luminescence dating of loess in Western Siberia
Part of Quaternary Geochronology, 2022
Part of Quaternary Research, p. 49-73, 2021
- DOI for Enviromagnetic study of Late Quaternary environmental evolution in Lower Volga loess sequences, Russia
- Download full text (pdf) of Enviromagnetic study of Late Quaternary environmental evolution in Lower Volga loess sequences, Russia
Part of Frontiers in Earth Science, 2021
- DOI for Late Pleistocene Climate and Dust Source From the Mobarakabad Loess–Paleosol Sequence, Northern Foothills of the Alborz Mountains, Northern Iran
- Download full text (pdf) of Late Pleistocene Climate and Dust Source From the Mobarakabad Loess–Paleosol Sequence, Northern Foothills of the Alborz Mountains, Northern Iran
Part of Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2021
Part of Geomorphology, 2021
Late Quaternary Dust, Loess and Desert Dynamics in Upwind Areas of the Chinese Loess Plateau
Part of Frontiers in Earth Science, 2021
- DOI for Late Quaternary Dust, Loess and Desert Dynamics in Upwind Areas of the Chinese Loess Plateau
- Download full text (pdf) of Late Quaternary Dust, Loess and Desert Dynamics in Upwind Areas of the Chinese Loess Plateau
Part of Quaternary Science Reviews, p. 107057, 2021
Geomorphological evolution of the Petrovaradin Fortress Palaeolithic site (Novi Sad, Serbia)
Part of Quaternary Research, p. 21-34, 2021
- DOI for Geomorphological evolution of the Petrovaradin Fortress Palaeolithic site (Novi Sad, Serbia)
- Download full text (pdf) of Geomorphological evolution of the Petrovaradin Fortress Palaeolithic site (Novi Sad, Serbia)
Part of Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 2021
Climatic Forcing of Plio-Pleistocene Formation of the Modern Limpopo River, South Africa
Part of Geophysical Research Letters, 2021
Part of Quaternary Science Reviews, 2021
- DOI for Detrital zircon U–Pb age analysis of last glacial loess sources and proglacial sediment dynamics in the Northern European Plain
- Download full text (pdf) of Detrital zircon U–Pb age analysis of last glacial loess sources and proglacial sediment dynamics in the Northern European Plain
Detrital zircon U-Pb ages and source of the late Palaeocene Thanet Formation, Kent, SE England
Part of Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, p. 240-248, 2021
- DOI for Detrital zircon U-Pb ages and source of the late Palaeocene Thanet Formation, Kent, SE England
- Download full text (pdf) of Detrital zircon U-Pb ages and source of the late Palaeocene Thanet Formation, Kent, SE England
Part of Quaternary Science Reviews, 2020
- DOI for Abrupt last glacial dust fall over southeast England associated with dynamics of the British-Irish ice sheet
- Download full text (pdf) of Abrupt last glacial dust fall over southeast England associated with dynamics of the British-Irish ice sheet
Magnetic susceptibility parameters as proxies for desert sediment provenance
Part of Aeolian Research, 2020
- DOI for Magnetic susceptibility parameters as proxies for desert sediment provenance
- Download full text (pdf) of Magnetic susceptibility parameters as proxies for desert sediment provenance
Beach ridges of Dali Lake in Inner Mongolia reveal precipitation variation during the Holocene
Part of Journal of Quaternary Science, p. 716-725, 2020
Part of Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2020
Part of Sedimentary Geology, 2020
A sinistral Helicopsis cf. instabilis (Rossmässler, 1838) from Romanian loess
Part of Folia Malacologica, p. 91-93, 2020
- DOI for A sinistral Helicopsis cf. instabilis (Rossmässler, 1838) from Romanian loess
- Download full text (pdf) of A sinistral Helicopsis cf. instabilis (Rossmässler, 1838) from Romanian loess
A constant Chinese Loess Plateau dust source since the late Miocene
Part of Quaternary Science Reviews, 2020
Part of Geophysical Research Letters, p. 10338-10345, 2019
Part of Quaternary International, p. 30-44, 2019
Ice-volume-forced erosion of the Chinese Loess Plateau global Quaternary stratotype site
Part of Nature Communications, 2018
- DOI for Ice-volume-forced erosion of the Chinese Loess Plateau global Quaternary stratotype site
- Download full text 1 (pdf) of Ice-volume-forced erosion of the Chinese Loess Plateau global Quaternary stratotype site
- Download full text 2 (pdf) of Ice-volume-forced erosion of the Chinese Loess Plateau global Quaternary stratotype site
Part of Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, p. 134-138, 2018
Part of Geophysical Research Letters, 2018
Rapid incision of the Mekong River in the middle Miocene linked to monsoonal precipitation
Part of Nature Geoscience, p. 944-948, 2018
Part of Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, p. 33-46, 2018
Loess correlations – Between myth and reality
Part of Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, p. 4-23, 2018
Part of Geology, p. 871-874, 2018
- DOI for Seesaw pattern in dust accumulation on the Chinese Loess Plateau forced by late glacial shifts in the East Asian monsoon
- Download full text (pdf) of Seesaw pattern in dust accumulation on the Chinese Loess Plateau forced by late glacial shifts in the East Asian monsoon
Part of Geomorphology, p. 203-216, 2018
Part of Quaternary International, p. 109-121, 2018
On the Holocene evolution of the Ayeyawady megadelta
Part of Earth Surface Dynamics, p. 451-466, 2018
- DOI for On the Holocene evolution of the Ayeyawady megadelta
- Download full text (pdf) of On the Holocene evolution of the Ayeyawady megadelta
Approaches and challenges to the study of loess: Introduction to the Loess-Fest Special Issue
Part of Quaternary Research, p. 563-618, 2018
Part of Quaternary Research, p. 645-659, 2018
Part of Quaternary International, p. 45-53, 2017
Part of Scientific Reports, 2017
- DOI for Shift of large-scale atmospheric systems over Europe during late MIS 3 and implications for Modern Human dispersal
- Download full text 1 (pdf) of Shift of large-scale atmospheric systems over Europe during late MIS 3 and implications for Modern Human dispersal
- Download full text 2 (pdf) of Shift of large-scale atmospheric systems over Europe during late MIS 3 and implications for Modern Human dispersal
Coupled European and Greenland last glacial dust activity driven by North Atlantic climate
Part of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2017
- DOI for Coupled European and Greenland last glacial dust activity driven by North Atlantic climate
- Download full text (pdf) of Coupled European and Greenland last glacial dust activity driven by North Atlantic climate
Part of Catena (Cremlingen. Print), p. 21-32, 2017
The provenance of Taklamakan desert sand
Part of Earth and Planetary Science Letters, p. 127-137, 2016
- DOI for The provenance of Taklamakan desert sand
- Download full text (pdf) of The provenance of Taklamakan desert sand
Part of Journal of Geophysical Research - Earth Surface, p. 2085-2099, 2016
Part of Journal of Quaternary Science, p. 391-405, 2016
Loess Plateau storage of Northeastern Tibetan Plateau-derived Yellow River sediment
Part of Nature Communications, 2015
- DOI for Loess Plateau storage of Northeastern Tibetan Plateau-derived Yellow River sediment
- Download full text (pdf) of Loess Plateau storage of Northeastern Tibetan Plateau-derived Yellow River sediment
Danube loess stratigraphy - Towards a pan-European loess stratigraphic model
Part of Earth-Science Reviews, p. 228-258, 2015
Part of Quaternary Geochronology, p. 194-199, 2015
Twelve thousand years of dust: the Holocene global dust cycle constrained by natural archives
Part of Climate of the Past, p. 869-903, 2015
- DOI for Twelve thousand years of dust: the Holocene global dust cycle constrained by natural archives
- Download full text (pdf) of Twelve thousand years of dust: the Holocene global dust cycle constrained by natural archives
Quaternary dust source variation across the Chinese Loess Plateau
Part of Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, p. 254-264, 2015
Two possible source regions for central Greenland last glacial dust
Part of Geophysical Research Letters, 2015
Extreme monsoon aridity episodes recorded in South China during Heinrich Events
Part of Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, p. 467-474, 2015
Pacific freshening drives Pliocene cooling and Asian monsoon intensification
Part of Scientific Reports, p. 5474, 2014
- DOI for Pacific freshening drives Pliocene cooling and Asian monsoon intensification
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Loess in China and Europe: A tribute to Edward Derbyshire
Part of Quaternary International, p. 1-3, 2014
Provenance of the upper Miocene–Pliocene Red Clay deposits of the Chinese loess plateau
Part of Earth and Planetary Science Letters, p. 35-47, 2014
Part of Quaternary Science Reviews, p. 206-224, 2014
Part of Catena (Cremlingen. Print), p. 34-42, 2014
Eustatic control of late Quaternary sea-level change in the Arabian/Persian Gulf
Part of Quaternary Research, p. 175-184, 2014
Part of Quaternary International, p. 30-39, 2014
Part of Journal of Quaternary Science, p. 189-199, 2014
The timing of sediment transport down Monterey Submarine Canyon, offshore California
Part of Geological Society of America Bulletin, p. 103-121, 2014
Time-scale and astronomical forcing of Serbian loess–paleosol sequences
Part of Global and Planetary Change, p. 89-106, 2014
Variation of East Asian monsoon precipitation during the past 21 k.y. and potential CO2 forcing
Part of Geology, p. 1023-1026, 2013
Importance of biological loess crusts for loess formation in semi-arid environments
Part of Quaternary International, p. 206-215, 2013
Part of Quaternary Science Reviews, p. 121-132, 2013
Genetic linkage between the Yellow River, the Mu Us desert and the Chinese Loess Plateau
Part of Quaternary Science Reviews, p. 355-368, 2013
Controlling factors on heavy mineral assemblages in Chinese loess and Red Clay
Part of Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, p. 110-118, 2013
Part of Chemical Geology, p. 83-96, 2012
SAR TT-OSL dating of the loess deposits in the Horqin dunefield (northeastern China)
Part of Quaternary Geochronology, p. 56-61, 2012
Part of Geologie & Mijnbouw, p. 173-188, 2012
Fluvial landscapes of the Harappan civilization
Part of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2012
Part of Quaternary Geochronology, p. 68-74, 2012
Characterising Chinese loess stratigraphy and past monsoon variation using field spectroscopy
Part of Quaternary International, p. 146-158, 2011
Part of Quaternary Science Reviews, p. 1142-1154, 2011
Part of Geological Society Special Publication, p. 49-67, 2011
Part of Quaternary Science Reviews, p. 662-681, 2011
Part of Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, p. 1590-1603, 2011
Part of Biology & Philosophy, p. 319-346, 2010
Radiometric dating of the late Quaternary summer monsoon on the Loess Plateau, China
Part of Geological Society Special Publication, p. 87-108, 2010
Part of Geological Society of America Bulletin, p. 1331-1344, 2010
Luminescence and amino acid racemization chronology of the loess-paleosol sequence at Sutto, Hungary
Part of Quaternary International, p. 62-76, 2009
Part of Acta Carsologica, p. 227-235, 2009
Towards development of a broadly-applicable SAR TT-OSL dating protocol for quartz
Part of Radiation Measurements, p. 639-645, 2009
Part of Sedimentology, p. 911-934, 2009
Late Pleistocene loess-palaeosol sequences in the Vojvodina region, north Serbia
Part of Journal of Quaternary Science, p. 73-84, 2008
Optical dating of abrupt shifts in the late Pleistocene East Asian monsoon
Part of Geology, p. 415-418, 2008
Examining the potential of high sampling resolution OSL dating of Chinese loess
Part of Quaternary Geochronology, p. 15-22, 2007
Part of Earth-Science Reviews, p. 111-136, 2007
An erosional hiatus in Chinese loess sequences revealed by closely spaced optical dating
Part of Chinese Science Bulletin, p. 2253-2259, 2006
Part of Geology, p. 849-852, 2006
Part of Geologica Carpathica, p. 545-552, 2005
Articles, review/survey
Part of Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, p. 501-517, 2022
Chapters in book
Applications in loessic environments
Part of Handbook of luminescence dating, p. 153-190, Whittles Publishing, 2019