Coarse-grained K-rich feldspar and fine-grained polymineral IRSL dating of loess-palaeosol from the Chinese Loess Plateau: A comparison

Abstract

In this study, the characteristics of infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) signals from coarse-grained (63–100 μm, CG) K-feldspar and fine-grained (4–11 μm, FG) polymineral fractions was compared using the Chinese loess/palaeosol samples from the Luochuan profile. The pIRIR 50, 225 and pIRIR 200, 290 protocols (pIRIR: post-IR IRSL. The subscript shows stimulation temperatures for the IR and pIRIR signals) were used. Natural signal intensities of eleven samples were used to construct the natural dose-response curve (DRC) for each signal. The laboratory and simulated-natural DRCs for each signal from the CG K-feldspar and FG polymineral fractions were constructed and were compared with the natural DRC. The natural DRCs were broadly consistent for the two pIRIR and the IR 200 signals for both fractions. The characteristic saturation dose ( D 0 ) of the natural DRCs for the pIRIR signals from the CG K-feldspar tended to be smaller than those from the FG polymineral fraction. Conversely, the D 0 s of the laboratory DRCs for all the signals from the CG K-feldspar were larger than those from the FG polymineral fraction. The ratio of simulated-natural DRC over natural DRC (N sim /N) was able to successfully determine the fading over- or under-correction tendencies for different signals and dose regions.