Optically stimulated luminescence dating of fluvial deposits: a review

Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating allows age determination of sediments deposited during the last glacial-interglacial cycle. This relatively new technique therefore enables chronological frameworks to be established for fluvial deposits that often cannot be dated by other means. The OSL signal of quartz and feldspar minerals is reset by light exposure during fluvial transport, and builds up as a result of ionizing radiation after burial of the minerals. Incomplete resetting of the OSL signal because of inadequate light exposure in the fluvial environment can result in age overestimations, especially for relatively young samples. Methods used for the detection of incomplete resetting, or poor bleaching, are reviewed. It is argued that technique s measuring the OSL signal from small subsamples (aliquots) are most promising for detecting poor bleaching and for obtaining the true age for a sample in which not all grains had their OSL signal completely removed at deposition. Quartz should be the mineral of choice, because it has been shown to yield the most reliable results and because its OSL signal is more rapidly reset than that of feldspar. Aliquot size should be small, with aliquots ideally consisting of a single grain of quartz for samples in which the majority of grains are poorly bleached. Using single-aliquot dating of coarse-grain quartz, age offsets between zero and a few thousand years have been found for modern fluvial deposits. The validity of single-aliquot quartz OSL dating has been demonstrated by application to known-age samples, but for the older age range (>˜13 ka) further proof of the accuracy of the method is essential. The application of quartz OSL dating to investigations of fluvial deposits opens a new realm of possibilities to be explored, as is highlighted by some examples of geological applications.     

Chronologies of sedimentary changes in the south Bohai Sea,China: constraints from luminescence and radiocarbon dating

The alternation of terrestrial and marine deposits is an indicator of past environmental and sea‐level changes. The age of deposition is usually dated by means of radiocarbon. However, radiocarbon dates of molluscan shells from coastal areas may be complicated by various sources of carbon, and problematic for deposits of 40–50 ka or older. Herein, we apply the Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating method to date samples from terrestrial and marine/coastal sediments extracted from three cores in the south Bohai Sea, China. Multiple‐ and single‐aliquot regenerative‐dose procedures using OSL signals from fine‐silt (4–11 μm), coarse‐silt (38–63 μm) and fine‐sand (63–90 or 90–125 μm) quartz were employed to determine the equivalent dose (D _e). The results showed that: (i) OSL ages from quartz of different grain sizes and different protocols are consistent with each other; (ii) for Holocene samples, most of the radiocarbon dates agree well with OSL ages; (iii) for pre‐Holocene samples, radiocarbon dates cluster at 40–50 ¹⁴ C ka BP, whereas OSL ages are in stratigraphic order from 11 ka to 176 ka. Because of the self‐consistency of the quartz OSL ages, the stratigraphic agreement in the three cores, and the clustering of the radiocarbon dates, we suggest that the quartz OSL ages are more reliable with respect to dating the samples from the south Bohai Sea. Finally, the four marine strata identified in the south Bohai Sea are likely to have formed during the Holocene, Marine Isotopic Stage (MIS) 3–5, MIS 6 and probably MIS 7, respectively.     

Luminescence dating of historical fluvial deposits from the Danube and Ebro

The validity of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) has been tested on known‐age (historical) fluvial deposits along the rivers Danube (Austria) and Ebro (Spain). As partial bleaching of the OSL signal prior to deposition can interfere with correct age estimates, different approaches to extracting the dose accumulated during burial are compared. Using the finite mixture model gave OSL ages that are internally as well as stratigraphically consistent and in agreement with independent age control. According to these results, fluvial deposition at the Danube River study site can be attributed to different periods ranging from Bronze Age to the 18th century A.D. Fluvial deposits of Roman age and of the late 17th or early 18th century A.D. were found at the Ebro River study site. This is consistent with the morphological subdivision of the valleys and encourages further investigation of the fluvial and archaeological history of the study areas using OSL. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

我国西北地区层间氧化带砂岩型铀矿床中铀的赋存形式

我国西北地区主要层间氧化带砂岩型铀矿床的贫矿石(U≤0.01%)中铀主要以分散形式,被砂岩填隙物中的粘土、褐铁矿等矿物,以及碎屑物和矿物的裂隙面等吸附,偶呈显微(μm级)、超显微状(<1μm)沥青铀矿(其次为铀石)。随着矿石铀品位的增高,其中呈铀矿物形式的铀的比例逐渐增大,在特高品位(U>1%)的矿石中,铀基本呈铀矿物(沥青铀矿,偶有铀石)形式产出。类质同象铀的份额极微,其可利用性缺乏实际意义。矿石中铀矿物主要赋存于矿化砂岩的填隙部位及碎屑物、矿物的孔隙或解理中,有时可交代碳屑、黄铁矿、绿泥石、黑云母等。由矿石中U4 /U6 含量比例推算原生铀矿物(沥青铀矿)的近似含氧系数变化范围为2.35~2.74,均值为2.49,与沉积、淋积铀矿床中的铀氧化物含氧系数相当,表明该类铀矿床生于常温条件下。极少数样品落入低温热水成因沥青铀矿的含氧系数范围(含氧系数低至2.35),表明个别地段可能出现低温热水铀成矿作用,推测可能受断裂构造热的影响。进而推测,特富矿石(U>1%)可能是源自深部、沿断裂上升的含铀低温热水叠造作用的产物,板状矿体便是深、浅部流体混合的证据之一。     

Determination of slip rate by optical dating of fluvial deposits from the Wangsan fault,SE Korea

The time-integrated slip rate in fault zones can be determined if the deformed deposits are reliably dated. Here, we report optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages of Late Pleistocene fluvial deposits cut by the Wangsan fault, southeastern Korea, which displaces a hanging wall block of about 28 m. Five sandy samples of the deformed Quaternary deposits were dated by quartz OSL using the single aliquot regenerative-dose (SAR) protocol. Three samples taken from the footwall block show stratigraphically consistent OSL ages of 54±7, 76±5 and 90±6 ka, from top to bottom. Two samples collected from the same layer in the hanging wall block show reproducible OSL ages of 81±5 and 82±5 ka, which are also in good agreement with the stratigraphic relationships. Our OSL ages yield an average sedimentation rate of the Quaternary deposits as around 0.04 mm a⁻¹, and a minimum value of time-integrated slip rate as 0.52 mm a⁻¹. This minimum slip rate is considerably higher than those reported earlier for Quaternary faults in southeastern Korea. The youngest OSL age (54±7 ka) constrains the maximum value of the recurrence interval of the fault movement.     

OSL dating and luminescence characteristics of aeolian deposits and their source material in Dalarna,central Sweden

Aeolian dunes, coversands, glacifluvial deltas and paraglacial mass‐movement deposits in Bonäsheden and Skattungheden in Dalarna, central Sweden were dated by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) on quartz. The OSL ages confirm that the majority of the dunes started forming directly after deglaciation, as suggested by previous investigators. Dune formation seems to have lasted at least 1500 years, until c. 9 ka. Four younger episodes of sand drift resulting in coversand deposition were dated by OSL and/or radiocarbon to 4100±200 a, 1569–1412 cal. a BP, 970±60 a and 150±10 a. The youngest one is related to changes in land use, while the older ones may be due to regional climatic changes. The dated quartz had excellent luminescence characteristics; the luminescence was bright and dominated by the fast signal component, which made it possible to successfully analyse even untreated material, so‐called range‐finder dating. These characteristics are most likely inherited from one of the source rocks of the Quaternary deposits – the Mesoproterozoic Dala sandstone, which we show to also have very good luminescence properties.     

熔融制样-波长色散X射线荧光光谱法同时测定砂岩型铀矿中主量及铀、钍成分

目前,砂岩型铀矿成分的测定,一般主量元素采用常规化学法,铀、钍含量采用ICP-AES测定.本文采用熔融制样,用Axiox max型波长色散X射线荧光光谱仪一次性测定砂岩型铀矿中主量及铀、钍成分.利用玻璃熔片法可以有效地消除砂岩型铀矿样品的非均匀性及颗粒度等矿物效应.采用混合熔剂Li2B4O7-LiBO2-LiI(m/m/m=66.67/32.83/0.50)在1050℃熔融制样,用铀矿石、岩石、砂岩等国家一级标准物质制成标准样片绘制工作曲线,用理论α系数法校正基体效应.方法经与标准物质检验对照,结果与标样值符合,其准确度、精密度均达到地质行业标准的要求.     

The behaviour of uranium, thorium and tin during leaching from a coarse-grained porphyritic granite in an arid environment

During the routine analysis of chip samples from water boreholes it was noted that the DeBakken granite south of Kenhardt has high uranium and tin contents. Rock samples collected on surface, however, revealed low concentrations of both these elements indicating that they have been leached from the surface samples. The distribution of thorium in the borehole profiles showed that while both tin and uranium have been removed above the water table, other “immobile” elements and thorium remained unaffected.The geological data showed that the leaching took place since the start of the Tertiary. Initially, the movement of uranium was vertical and accumulated in pedogenic calcrete above the granite. This vertical leaching was controlled by fluctuations in the water table and took place from the Pliocene to Pleistocene. Later, in the Holocene, the pedogenic calcrete was removed and deposited as non-pedogenic calcrete along the rivers. These nodular calcrete deposits, which are abundant in Namaqualand, are mineralized only along those rivers which drain the DeBakken granite, indicating that this granite was the source of the uranium.When the water table reached depths of ten metres or more the vertical migration of uranium ceased and horizontal leaching caused by the movement of ground water became active. Where the water table cuts the surface, such as in the pans, uranium deposition due to evaporation of groundwater is still active.Leaching of uranium from this granite, together with the formation of the secondary deposits is mineralogically controlled, and is ascribed to the fact that uranium is not hosted in zircon. Granites such as the DeBakken granite, in which the uranium is hosted in biotite, monazite and apatite, cannot be recognized by surface sampling and hence a lithogeochemical approach, using sub-surface samples has to be adopted. Calculations showed that approximately 1400 tons of uranium metal has been leached from this granite since the start of the Tertiary and that the maximum reserve of the province as a whole is relatively small.The distribution of tin is erratic, and although it has been leached from the surface samples, it has not been transported for any significant distance. Thus the tin distribution in the profiles does not show the same degree of leaching as does uranium. This is ascribed to the fact that samples from a percussion drill would include both the rock fragments from which tin has been leached and the clay-rich alteration products in which it has been trapped. Tin is generally immobile when present as cassiterite, but when enclosed in biotite, and when the groundwater is enriched in chlorine and fluorine, it leaches readily from the biotite.     

Timing of fluvial sedimentation in the Upper Rhine Graben since the Middle Pleistocene: constraints from quartz and feldspar luminescence dating

The Heidelberg Basin (HDB) hosts one of the thickest Quaternary sediment successions in central Europe. To establish a reliable Middle and Upper Pleistocene chronology for a recently drilled core from the depocentre of the Heidelberg Basin, we applied multiple luminescence dating approaches, including quartz optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), two feldspar post‐IR IRSL protocols using second IR stimulation temperatures of 225 °C (pIRIR₂₂₅) and 290 °C (pIRIR₂₉₀), and two fading correction models. Relatively high anomalous fading was observed for both the pIRIR₂₂₅ and pIRIR₂₉₀ signals, with mean fading rates of 2.13±0.27 and 2.08±0.49%/decade, respectively. Poor dose recovery behaviour of the pIRIR₂₉₀ signal suggests that the pIRIR₂₉₀ ages are not reliable. The comparison of two fading correction methods for the K‐feldspar ages indicates that the correction method proposed by Kars et al. (2008) Radiation Measurements 43, 786, yields reliable ages, whereas the dose‐rate correction method proposed by Lamothe et al. (2003) Radiation Measurements 37, 493, does not. A chronology for the HDB is established using the quartz ages and reliable fading corrected feldspar pIRIR₂₂₅ ages. Our chronology shows that the sediments in the upper Mannheim Formation were deposited during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 4 (c. 70 ka), constrained by two quartz ages in the upper 20 m of the core. Four fading corrected pIRIR₂₂₅ ages of c. 400 ka show that the upper Ludwigshafen Formation was deposited during MIS 12–11, correlated with the Elsterian‐Holsteinian stage. Two ages of 491±76 and 487±79 ka indicate that the Middle and Upper Ludwigshafen Formation were probably deposited during the Cromerian Complex. This luminescence chronology is consistent with palynological results. It also indicates that the IR‐RF ages reported earlier are probably underestimated due to anomalous fading.     

松辽盆地钱家店铀矿床层间氧化带地球化学特征*

钱家店砂岩型铀矿床是松辽盆地发现的特大型铀矿床,目前已发现的铀矿主要赋存在上白垩统姚家组下段,矿体呈板状、透镜状,主要受层间氧化带控制。通过对钱家店砂岩型铀矿层间氧化带各带(氧化带、过渡带及还原带)的主量元素、微量元素、稀土元素进行测试分析,结果表明各带地球化学特征存在较大的差异,其中依据Fe₂O₃、FeO、Al₂O₃、SiO₂、Na₂O及K₂O可对层间氧化带进行较准确的分带,MgO、CaO具有一定的分带指示意义。从氧化带到过渡带,趋于富集的微量元素主要为放射性元素(U)、大离子亲石元素(Li、Ba)、亲硫元素(Ni)、高场强元素(Nb、Ta)和性质活跃的变价元素(Mo)等,且 LREE、MREE和HREE均有不同程度富集,反映了水—岩作用时间较长、强度较大。有机碳、S_全、ωFe³⁺/ωFe²⁺还原性指标在不同分带的显著差异表明,随着含氧含铀水在姚家组地层中迁移,还原性组分变化强烈,具有明显的分带指示意义。     

First data on the radiocarbon age of the Atelian deposits in the North Caspian Region

This paper reports data on the Atelian horizon identified in the Caspian Sea bottom. Seismoacoustic profiling has made it possible to determine its area, position, and setting in the Upper Quaternary sequence and the relation to the host deposits. According to the drillhole core data, the Atelian horizon is composed of continental clay loam and sandy loam containing peatlike organic remains. They are depleted in biogenic residues containing rare freshwater mollusk species. The Atelian deposits were accumulated in lake reservoirs filling the depressions developed in the strata of the Upper Khazarian horizon. The radiocarbon age determined for the first time by humic acids has been used to estimate the Atelian deposition time in the range of 40 000–45 000 calibrated years BP.     

Geochemical characteristics of interlayer oxidation zone in Qianjiadian sandstone-type uranium deposits,Songliao Basin

The Qianjiadian sandstone-type uranium deposits is a large uranium deposits discovered in the Songliao Basin. The uranium deposits discovered mainly occur in the Lower Member of the Upper Cretaceous Yaojia Formation. The ore body is tabular and lenticular,mainly controlled by the interlayer oxidation zone. By testing and analyzing the main elements,trace elements and rare earth elements in the oxidation zone of the Qianjiadian sandstone-type uranium deposits(oxidation zone,transition zone and reduction zone),the results show that the geochemical characteristics of each zone vary greatly,where the interlayer oxidation zone can be zoned relatively accurately by Fe₂O₃,FeO,Al₂O₃,SiO₂,Na₂O and K₂O and MgO and CaO have certain indication significance for zoning. From the oxidation zone to the transition zone,the trace elements that tend to be enriched are mainly radioactive elements(U),large ion lithophile elements(Li,Ba),chalcophile elements(Ni),high field strength elements(Nb,Ta),active variable valence elements(Mo),etc.,and LREE,MREE and HREE have different degrees of enrichment,reflecting the long water-rock interaction with large intensity. The significant difference of reducing indexes of organic carbon,St,and ωFe³⁺/ωFe²⁺ in different zones indicates that with the migration of oxygen-uranium containing water in the Yaojia Formation,the reducing components change sharply and have obvious significance of zoning indication.     

内蒙古通辽地区第三系层间氧化带砂岩型铀矿成矿远景分析

本从第三系找矿目的层的分布、砂体发育特征、后生蚀变、有机质含量、地下水补-径-排体系及铀矿化(异常)等方面，对内蒙古通辽地区可地浸砂岩型铀矿成矿条件进行了分析，认为该区具有较好的成矿前景。     

Corry bog, pennsylvania: A case study of the radiocarbon dating of marl

New radiocarbon dates, carbon and oxygen isotope analyses of mollusks and marl, and palynologic analysis have clarified age relationships at the Corry kettle bog in northwestern Pennsylvania. A 4000-yr difference in radiocarbon dates between basal peat and marl top, previously interpreted as caused by the presence of an unconformity, is reinterpreted as due to “hard-water effects” from carbonate bedrock and glacial deposits. A radiocarbon date of 14,000 yr from basal marl, previously used as a minimum age for glacial deposition, is also likely too old; instead a similar age is estimated for the base of the underlying lake clay. Radiocarbon dates on marl should be used with caution and supported by isotopic and pollen analyses.     

A chronology for the long pollen record from Lake Wangoom,western Victoria (Australia) as derived from uranium/thorium disequilibrium dating

The chronology of a long pollen record from Lake Wangoom, one of the few long palaeoenvironmental records from southeastern Australia, is discussed in light of the acquisition of new uranium/thorium disequilibrium (UTD) dates. Of crucial importance has been the estimation of ages for two major pre‐Holocene phases of forest expansion recorded in the sequence, with implications for the timing of periods of high effective precipitation in the region. The new UTD ages indicate that the oldest forest phase falls within the Penultimate Interglacial whereas the later phase corresponds with the Last Interglacial. This is older than indicated by previously reported UTD and radiocarbon dates, but confirms a chronology based on direct correlation with the pollen record from marine core E55‐6. The new chronology of the Lake Wangoom sequence provides evidence that phases of sustained forest development in southeast Australia relate to interglacial periods. In comparison, interstadial periods appear to be characterised by only minor arboreal development. Marked differences in the pattern of vegetation development evident in each of the interglacials are thought to reflect varying climatic and anthropogenic influences. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

巴音宝力格隆起带中新生代盆地砂岩型铀矿成矿地质条件及远景分析

本根据野外调查及室内系列编图成果，分析了巴音宝力格隆起带中新生代盆地砂岩型铀矿成矿地质条件，认为下白里统巴彦花组是中新生代盆地的找矿目的层位，并存在古河道与潜水层间氧化带两种砂岩型铀矿类型。巴彦毛都、准巴彦塔拉、乌里雅斯太和伊勒门盆地是形成砂岩型铀矿的远景盆地。