Comment on “Thermoluminescence and optically stimulated luminescence signals from volcanic ash: History of volcanism in Barren Island, Andaman Sea” by D. Banerjee (Quaternary Geochronology)

Abstract

Banerjee, D. [2009. Thermoluminescence and optically stimulated luminescence signals from volcanic ash: History of volcanism in Barren Island, Andaman Sea, Quaternary Geochronology, doi:10.1016/j.quageo.2009.01.011] aimed at determining the history of volcanism and evolution of Barren Island by dating a single ash sample using thermoluminescence and optically stimulated luminescence signals. An attempt to date the volcanic episodes and decipher the history of the volcano with just one sample, the stratigraphic position of which is not known (or at least specified in the paper), does not make any sense, at least in the context of history of volcanism on Barren Island. The title of the paper is a misnomer, as it does not in fact address the reconstruction of the history of volcanism on the Barren Island, but discusses the methods and problem of age underestimation using this technique instead.