OSL dating of a Holocene loess-paleosol sequence in the southern Loess Plateau, China

Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of polymineral fine-grained loess samples collected from the southern Loess Plateau of China was conducted using the single-aliquot regenerative-dose (SAR) protocol. A ‘Double-SAR’ procedure in which aliquots are subjected to both infrared (IR) and blue stimulations was used, and two sets of equivalent dose (D _e ) determinations were produced. These doses are assumed to be predominantly related to the feldspathic and quartz fine grain populations, respectively. The results revealed that the OSL ages estimated by infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) signals and those estimated by [post-IR] stimulated luminescence ([post-IR] OSL) signals disagreed. Specifically, the ages estimated using the IRSL signals were smaller than those estimated using [post-IR] OSL signals. The results of an anomalous fading test of the two types of OSL signals revealed that the [post-IR] OSL signals from the etched sub-sample (by H₂SiF₆ and HF) and the un-etched sub-sample did not fade significantly. However, the IRSL signals from the un-etched sub-sample showed obvious signs of fading. These findings indicate that the lower age estimated by IRSL is due to the anomalous fading of feldspar IR signals in the polymineral fine grains. For samples collected from greater than 100 cm, the estimates of their OSL ages using two types of luminescence signals generally agreed with their pre-estimated ages, especially those of the [post-IR] OSL signals. However, for the three samples that were collected from a depth of less than 100 cm, their OSL ages were remarkably underestimated, possibly due to the enhanced human activity (such as soil cultivation) that has occurred in the region since 3000 a B.P.