Dr. Kubassek János szerk.: A Kárpát-medence természeti értékei (Érd, 2004)

Dr. János Kubassek: Mosaics from the natural heritage of the Carpathian Basin

VC O The research results concerning the surface karstic features, the dolines, sink holes and cave systems of the Bükk Mountains were recently widely publicized at various world forums of karst researchers and speleologists. Their early documents received major attention in the present volume. The Baradla Cave at Aggtelek, a great example of the underground karstic forms, has already been on the World Heritage list of UNESCO. The wonderful natural site in a large limestone block is a part of the Aggtelek National Park. The appraisal of the recent speleological works of Hubert Kessler and László Jakucs in the Aggtelek karstland would deserve a separate volume. The presentation of the studies of the caves of the Carpathian Basin would again deserve another book. Scientists have a lot to owe to the geological and geographical research of Lajos Lóczy (1849-1920), who was an internationally recognised expert of the geological surveying and mapping of the Carpathian region. He also did a lot to make the world know the Carpathian Basin. It was his great merit that he did not simply describe the land with an immense amount of data, but he looked for the relationship between the different geographical phenomena. His research method created a model for Hungarian geographers. He became internationally known after he joined the expedition of Béla Széchenyi to East Asia. This scientific undertaking between 1877 and 1880 brought him international recognition, which motivated his activity in Hungary too. Lóczy was also a successful organiser of science. The Hungarian Geographical Society established the Balaton Committee after his initiation in 1891 with the following objective: "the complex scientific study of the Hungarian lake". Lóczy managed to convince the representatives of the Hungarian state to give substantial financial support to the field work -and research. His great monograph series, The results of the scientific study of Lake Balaton, made the natural heritage of the lake and its environment public. The publication contained more than seven thousand pages in 32 volumes. Another fruit of the work carried out by Lajos Lóczy and his students over several years was the publication of a 1: 360 000 scale geological map of the Carpathian Basin. This map was awarded the "gold medal" in the Paris world exhibition in 1900. Lajos Lóczy became the director of the Hungarian Geological Institute in 1908. In addition to his work as a professor, he invested lots of his energy into the geo-