Luminescence evidence for two Middle Pleistocene interglacial events at Tourville, northwestern France

The infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) dating method is applied to alkali feldspar coarse grains from the two distinct Middle Pleistocene interglacial estuarine deposits of Tourville, located along the Seine Valley. The upper deposit (unit D), previously dated at 200 ka by ESR on in situ shells and correlated with a stage 7 high sea-level stand (186–245 ka), yields a measured IRSL age of 176 ± 21 ka. The lower deposit (unit B) assigned to a distinctly older high sea-level event (stage 9: 303–339 ka) yields a measured IRSL age of 273 ± 28 ka. The nearby stage 7 raised beach of Sangatte, in Northwestern France, previously dated by TL on quartz (229 ± 18 ka) yields a measured IRSL age of 186 ± 19 ka. These IRSL age estimates systematically underestimate the expected geological ages. This could be due to the long-term fading or instability of the luminescence signal in alkali feldspars. The correction for long-term fading has been tested on these samples. At Tourville, it yields corrected IRSL ages of 196 ± 23ka and 314 ± 32ka, for the upper and lower units respectively and, at Sangatte, a corrected IRSL age of 206 ± 20 ka. These corrected IRSL age estimates are in better agreement with the expected geological ages. This study demonstrates the potential of the feldspar luminescence dating method to provide chronological information on Middle Pleistocene interglacial estuarine sediments within the North Sea-English Channel Basin.