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.     

Bleaching of the post‐IR IRSL signal: new insights for feldspar luminescence dating

Post‐infrared (pIR) stimulated luminescence dating of sedimentary feldspar largely avoids the effects of anomalous fading that affect conventional infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) dating. However, optical resetting of pIR signals is more difficult than resetting the conventional IRSL signal, which may undermine the crucial assumption that pIR signals were effectively bleached upon deposition and burial of sediment grains. In this study, we quantify the bleaching properties of several pIR signals on various samples using laboratory‐simulated bleaching in full sunlight and water‐attenuated sunlight. Our data show that bleaching is most efficient under full spectrum conditions for all pIR signals and that pIR signals measured at elevated temperature are increasingly harder to bleach than IR and pIR signals measured at low temperature (e.g. IR at 50°C). All bleaching curves exhibit a very slow and steady decrease, indicating that a fixed un‐bleachable residual level cannot be reached within the 11 days of solar simulator exposure undertaken here. We show that the magnitude of a laboratory‐determined residual dose depends on the adopted bleaching protocol and cannot be used as a proxy for the dose that remains in the sample at the time of burial (remnant dose). Our data emphasize the importance of finding a balance between sufficient signal stability and a minimized contribution of a remnant dose when using pIR procedures for feldspar luminescence dating.     

Middle and Late Pleistocene fluvial systems in central Poland

This reconstruction of the fluvial palaeogeography of central Poland is based on an exhaustive and critical review of the published and archival data for the Middle and Late Pleistocene sediments of the area. The Warsaw Basin in central Poland was a major confluence area during the Middle and Late Pleistocene. The fluvial watersheds have been only slightly modified since that time. The past river systems resembled the contemporary one, therefore indicating rebuilding during successive interglacials, at least since the Holsteinian when the sea undoubtedly occupied the southern Baltic Basin. The Weichselian fluvial system was strongly influenced by the Scandinavian ice sheet, especially by meltwater runoff in the extraglacial area and ice-damming in the Warsaw Basin where a large proglacial lake developed. The Weichselian fluvial sediments form up to three terraces in the valleys of the Vistula and its tributaries. The most contentious issue is the mutual relation of the ice-dammed lake and ice marginal spillways in the Warsaw Basin, both being important fragments of a widespread drainage network in the Central European Lowland.     

Helium-uranium dating of corals from Middle Pleistocene Barbados reef tracts

By He-U dating of corals from elevated Pleistocene reef tracts on Barbados, we have extended back to the Middle Pleistocene the high sea stand chronology previously deduced by Th²³⁰-U dating. Six samples from the first major reef tract complex older than the 200,000-yr complex gave ages of 350,000 ± 25,000 yr B.P. Two corals from the crest of Second High Cliff, an unusually large escarpment occurring approximately midway in the terrace sequence, gave concordant ages of 480,000 and 500,000 yr. Unrecrystallized corals from older reefs gave ages ranging back to 650,000 yr.The results date episodes of high sea stands at 350,000 and 500,000 yr B.P.     

Comparison of SAR techniques for luminescence dating of sediments derived from volcanic tuff

In this investigation we evaluate several proposed optically stimulated luminescence single-aliquot regeneration (OSL SAR) procedures to determine which technique has the greatest potential to yield accurate ages for samples collected from tuff-derived alluvial sediments within the narrow, sharply incised canyon systems of the Pajarito Plateau of northern New Mexico. The SAR data collection methods evaluated are: infrared-stimulated luminescence (IRSL), post-IR blue-OSL, IRSL with TL annealing cycles on polymineral fine-grains, and blue-OSL on quartz fine sand. A single-grain laser luminescence (SGLL) procedure for quartz sand is also evaluated. Age estimates obtained from these methods are compared with radiocarbon, soil PDI (profile development index), and IRSL multi-aliquot additive dose (MAAD) age constraints. Our results indicate that the modal D_e of quartz sand SGLL dose distributions yield ages that are consistent with radiocarbon and PDI age constraints for the tuff derived sediments in this investigation and appears to be the most promising method for studies in this area. Additionally, two fine-grained polymineral methods, IRSL SAR and traditional IRSL MAAD, produced ages that were generally in agreement with the SGLL ages and with available ¹⁴C and PDI age constraints. At the present stage of research, we advocate using quartz sand SGLL in conjunction with IRSL SAR or even IRSL MAAD for polymineral fine-grains to provide the most robust and reliable luminescence age data sets for tuff-derived sediments.     

Luminescence dating of Late Quaternary sediments from East Greenland

Luminescence dating based on K-feldspars and using both TL and OSL methods have been performed on 94 sediment samples from East Greenland. The ages go back more than 380 ka, but are mainly from the last interglaciation and the subsequent period and include both shallow-marine/coastal-fluvial and ice proximal meltwater sediments. Independent age control indicates that the dates in the first group generally fall within ± 15% of the expected age, although a few samples show larger deviations. The ice proximal sediments, on the other hand, show a much larger spread and exaggerated ages, probably owing to incomplete bleaching. OSL may give better results than TL in these sediments.     

Glacial drainage towards the Mediterranean during the Middle and Late Pleistocene

To a varying degree the Middle and Late Pleistocene ice sheets in northern Eurasia redirected the drainage of major catchments in Europe and western Siberia from the North Sea and Arctic Ocean south to the Caspian, Black Sea, and ultimately the Mediterranean. During the Late Weichselian, glacial meltwater reached the Mediterranean through the Dniepr and Don catchments and to a minor extent through the Danube. During the Warthe Substage of the Saalian, meltwater from the Volga was most likely added. During the Drenthe Substagc of the Saalian the watershed shifted Par to the east, and meltwater reached the Mediterranean also from the Oh. Irtysh, Yenisei, and Tunguska catchments in Siberia. Depending on the extent of the ice sheets, the increase in freshwater supply during deglaciations resulted in reductions of Mediterranean overflow into the North Atlantic. Such overflow reductions may have reduced vapour transport to the ice sheets and thus accelerated wastage.     

Aeolian activity in northern Amazonia: optical dating of Late Pleistocene and Holocene palaeodunes

Palaeodunes were examined on the eastern margin of the Rio Branco–Rupununi savanna, northeast Amazonia. Optical dating suggests that the onset of aeolian activity was between 17 000 and 15 000 yr ago, just after the Last Glacial Maximum. Both the palaeodune axes and modern dominant wind directions have northeast to east‐northeast directions, implying no significant shift in atmospheric circulation patterns over northeast Amazonia during the Late Pleistocene to Holocene. Major regional climate change events, such as the Younger Dryas, do not appear to have had any effect on the rates of aeolian deposition at the study site. Aeolian activity appears to have continued to the present day, showing a remarkably constant deposition rate of around 0.13 m kyr^?1 initially, increasing smoothly to the present. Until more palaeodunes in northern Amazonia are dated, it is impossible to determine if this record of gradual aeolian deposition is a reliable regional palaeoclimate indicator, rather than being the result of local bioclimatic and geomorphological effects. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

第四纪沉积物光释光测年中等效剂量测定方法的对比研究

准确地测定碎屑矿物沉积后吸收的等效剂量第四纪沉积物释光测年中最关键的一环。用光释光测年技术对几年全新世坡积物,古土地和黄土等样品中的石英,长石等碎屑矿物进行了测定等效剂量的对比研究。     

Late Pleistocene carbonate aeolianites on Mallorca, Western Mediterranean: a luminescence chronology

Coastal outcrops of Upper Pleistocene deposits in north-eastern Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Spain) have been examined and a chronological framework established using Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating. The outcrops record a complex interaction between aeolian, colluvial and alluvial fan deposition that result in a variable stratigraphical architecture. Dating and facies analysis make it possible to identify four aeolian activity episodes during MIS 5c/b, 4 and 3, and also add to the understanding of the environmental history of north-eastern Mallorca over the last 100 ka. The new data suggest enhanced aeolian transport and dune formation during cold climatic intervals when sea level was low, sediment supply (exposed marine carbonate sediment) was high, winter windiness was high, and vegetation on coastal plains at a minimum.     

Recent TIMS dating results from British Late Pleistocene vertebrate faunal localities: context and interpretation

New TIMS dates from British sites underpin and extend the growing model of mammalian faunal history during the Late Pleistocene. The sequence of British faunas during the three successive warm phases of MIS 5 presents a challenging model in which the mammal faunas of the first two temperate phases, 5e and 5c is dominated by species of a classically interglacial character, while that of the final phase, sub‐stage 5a, is dominated by bison and reindeer. This we see as the ‘cold fauna’ appearing in Britain during the cool isotope sub‐stage 5b and subsequently isolated by the rising sea level of isotope sub‐stage 5a. All these three faunas are true island faunas. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

光释光技术在我国海岸晚第四纪沉积测年中的应用

位于陆地与海洋交界的海岸系统,对环境变化反应敏感,海岸沉积是记录区域及全球环境变化的重要载体。但海岸沉积动力环境复杂,多存在沉积物的侵蚀、搬运与再沉积现象,或缺乏¹⁴C测年所需的有机质材料,因此年代问题是海岸第四纪地层研究的难点。光释光测年技术（OSL）主要通过石英或长石矿物的释光信号,确定沉积物的埋藏年龄,测年范围从近百年到几十万年。OSL的快速发展为海岸第四纪地层年代确定提供了有利条件,特别是单片再生剂量法的提出,提高了光释光测年结果的准确度和精度。OSL测年需要根据样品的年龄与性质,进行测年矿物、测量程序条件及粒级的选择。文章基于近年来石英和长石光释光测年技术的发展,结合我国海岸第四纪地层断代中已发表的500多个光释光年代数据,探讨光释光测年技术在海岸第四纪沉积物定年中遇到的常见问题及应对策略,包括测年矿物的选择（石英vs.长石）、样品的晒退、剂量率、石英信号的组分、长石包裹体等。对这些问题的认识有助于对光释光测年结果准确度的评估,可以更好地服务于海岸晚第四纪沉积研究。

     

Biostratigraphy of the Late Middle Pleistocene (Middle Neopleistocene) of the Southern Urals region

A summary of published and unpublished materials on the stratigraphy of the Late Middle Pleistocene (Middle Neopleistocene according to the Russian stratigraphic scheme) of the Southern Urals region is given. Deposits of different origin in the regional stratigraphic units are characterized. The results of mammalian investigations provide the basis for the stratigraphical subdivision. Mollusca and palynology are used for the reconstruction of the palaeoenvironments. The stratigraphical positions of the main Middle Neopleistocene localities and precise definitions of the stratigraphical scheme of the Southern Urals region are discussed. The Southern Urals subdivisions are correlated with the Western European stratigraphical schemes (Holsteinian–Saalian interval).     

Optical dating studies of quartz and feldspar sediment extracts

Continuing developmental work into optical dating has led to some clarification of the optical behaviour of quartz and feldspar sediment extracts. We have verified the key assumption intrinsic to the method — that the optical signal is zeroed completely upon exposure to daylight. We also show that the rate of zeroing in optical dating is much more rapid than it is in TL dating.Studies concerned with the extraction of the thermally stable signal from laboratory-irradiated samples showed that problems may arise from medium-to-high-temperature preheating of young samples. Optical alternatives to thermal stabilization were tested using dye and krypton lasers. Using a krypton laser we have succeeded in obtaining an equivalent dose of 0.0 ± 0.7 Gy for the quartz from a modern intertidal sand, and an average dose of 120 ± 22 Gy for the feldspar extract of a 70 ka sand unit. Both were obtained using six wavelengths, from the infrared to the violet, and no dependence on wavelength was found. We found that the photon energies of infrared and deep red light can stimulate luminescence in unirradiated quartz and feldspar extracts of sediments. This was not expected, and suggests that the process of trap emptying is more complex than we had envisioned, but implies a far greater than expected degree of technical flexibility for the optical dating method.