Abstract
Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating has been intensively used to date the late Quaternary deposits. The Single-Aliquot Regenerative-dose (SAR) protocol was applied to measure coarse quartz grains extracted from Dali sand dunes, central China. It was found that this popular method could not accurately date sand dunes activities that recently happened. This is due to the low OSL sensitivity of quartz grains, leading to a failure in OSL dating that has also been met in other sediments before. To overcome this limitation, quartz grains were heated to 500°C to increase the OSL output for one magnitude. Sensitivity changes could also be corrected by the following test dose OSL responses and has no influence on OSL ages. Thus it is suggested to carry out the SAR protocol for dim and young quartz OSL samples with additional annealing step (e.g. 500°C) after the measurements of natural cycle. The resultant OSL ages proved that the last sand-dune activities happened during the Little Ice Age (∼400years ago), which was further supported by independent age control (∼1600AD) from historical documents.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
