Effect of Fracture on ESR Intensity Using a Low-Velocity Rotary Shear Apparatus

We sheared simulated-quartz gouges using a low-velocity rotary shear apparatus and evaluated the relationship between electron spin resonance (ESR) intensity and displacement quantitatively considering problems of contaminants. ESR intensity of E1’ centre increased while OHC and peroxy centre kept constant with the increasing displacement up to 1.4 m. Microstructural analysis showed grain size reduction and fracture of starting gouges; hence, the fracture can affect the change in ESR intensity. ESR measurements were also conducted for starting gouges with variable amounts of contaminants, and it was confirmed that the effect of contaminants on the change in ESR intensity was negligible. Moreover, we estimated the temperature rise by the frictional heating on the surface and between particles, and it was shown that the effect of frictional heating on ESR intensity was also negligible in our experimental condition. Therefore, we could clarify the relationship between ESR intensity and fracturing with various displacements separately from contaminants and frictional heating. The results imply that the zero-setting of ESR signals cannot occur by the fracture with low frictional heating at the shallow depth.

Characteristics of pulsed blue and green light stimulated luminescence signals of quartz and feldspars

The post-infrared (post-IR) pulsed blue light stimulated luminescence (PBLSL) signal has been employed to determine the equivalent dose (D e ) of feldspar contaminated quartz grains, but it sometimes suffers from the interference of feldspars. Since the green light stimulated luminescence (GLSL) signal of feldspars might be more reduced by a prior IR stimulation, we compared the characteristics of post-IR PBLSL and post-IR pulsed GLSL (post-IR PGLSL) signals of quartz and feldspars in this study to evaluate the feasibility of employing the green light for pulsed stimulation. We investigated the effect of the signal integration period, pulsed stimulation temperature, and prior IR stimulation temperature on the intensities of post-IR PBLSL and post-IR PGLSL of quartz and feldspars, and evaluated the potential feldspar interference on these two signals for the hypothetical and artificial quartz-feldspar mixture. The results demonstrate a lower feldspars contribution for the post-IR PGLSL signal. The feldspar interference only slightly increases with the increase of integration period for the post-IR PGLSL signal measured at low stimulation temperature, which permits a long integration period to be employed to enhance the signal to noise ratio. This study shows that the green light is a promising alternative for pulsed stimulation to suppress the feldspar contribution.

Chronology of the Huxushan Paleolithic site in south China: Inferred from multiple luminescence dating techniques

The Huxushan archaeological site in northern Hunan Province, China, was recently excavated, from which stone tools including handaxes were unearthed. The deposits of the site are chemically weathered, which makes it difficult to date the site using numerical dating techniques except for optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) method. Here, we used various luminescence procedures including single-aliquot regenerative-dose (SAR), sensitivity-corrected multiple-aliquot regenerative-dose (SMAR) and thermally transferred optically stimulated luminescence (TT-OSL) SAR procedures on fine-grained quartz, and two-step post-infrared infrared stimulated luminescence (pIRIR) and multi-elevated-temperature pIRIR (MET-pIRIR) procedures on fine polymineral fractions. The results show that the fine quartz grains have excellent luminescence properties and the quartz SAR-, SMAR- and TT-OSL ages for the samples agree with each other and in stratigraphical order except for one sample. The fine polymineral fractions exhibited relatively weak pIRIR and MET-pIRIR signals, resulting in difficulty in constructing the dose-response curve for MET-pIRIR signals and the stratigraphically inconsistent pIRIR(100, 275) ages. The seven samples yielded their quartz OSL ages ranging from about 62 ka to 133 ka. The two samples from the cultural layer was dated to 78 to 92 ka using different procedures on fine quartz . However, given the systematically older pIRIR ages obtained with the fine polymineral grains for the two samples, their quartz OSL ages are considered to represent the minimal ages of this layer, and their pIRIR(100, 275) ages of 118 and 110 ka represent the upper age limit, indicating that the site was occupied by hominins during Marine Isotope Stage 5.

Residual dose of K-feldspar post-IR IRSL of beach-shoreface sands at Kujukuri, eastern Japan

We assessed the residual dose of K-feldspar grains from modern and Holocene beach– shoreface sands at Kujukuri, eastern Japan. Samples from the modern foreshore and shoreface (to 34 m depth) show residual doses <0.2 Gy for infrared-stimulated luminescence (IR)50 measured during post-IR infrared-stimulated luminescence (pIRIR)50/150, equivalent to potential burial age overestimation of only several decades for given dose rates. Residual doses of 1–3 Gy are retained by pIRIR50/150, equivalent to 400–1,300 years; pIRIR50/290 residual doses are up to 30 Gy, suggesting possible overestimation by >10,000 years. Residual doses of Holocene sands were also assessed by comparison with radiocarbon ages, revealing consistent results with modern sands. The pIRIR50/290 results show no pronounced correlation of residual dose with water depth, except for a few samples from <5 m depth with residual doses several tens of per cent lower than those of deeper sands, suggesting that most samples were not fully bleached and that sustained subaerial sunlight bleaching diminishes the difficult-to-bleach component. Compared to the uncertainties associated with other factors, such as the fading correction, the residual doses of IR50 and pIRIR50/150 are negligible for samples older than late and early Holocene, respectively. In contrast, the residual dose of pIRIR50/290 may lead to critical age overestimation of Late Pleistocene deposits if the residual dose is not properly corrected.

Electron spin resonance (ESR) signal intensity of quartz E1' centre and its potential use in fluvial sediments provenance tracing

To assess if the heat-treated E 1' centre in quartz is suitable for fluvial sediment provenance tracing, eight granitic samples from sediments and their source rocks with distinct geological ages and origins were collected for electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements. The results show that the maximum heat-treated E 1' signal intensity of quartz in the fluvial sediments occurs upon heating at about 300°C, as previously observed in aeolian quartz. The heat-treated E 1' signal intensity of quartz in sediment samples also shows significant correspondence to those of their source rocks as well as their formation age. We propose that the heat-treated E 1' centre of sedimentary quartz, combined with other lithological discrimination parameters, could serve as an effective indicator for fluvial sediment provenance tracing.

Dose response of the E1’ centre in quartz

The E1’ centre is one of the most common paramagnetic defects observed by electron spin resonance (ESR) in natural quartz, the formation of which is, however, quite complicated. The dose response to gamma ray irradiation of the E1’ centre in natural quartz was systematically investigated in the present study to find that its dose response depends on the heating conditions of the sample before irradiation. The signal intensity decreases on irradiation when quartz has been heated up to 300°C, while it increases when heated above 400°C. The phenomena can be explained by the electronic processes that heating supplies electronic holes to the oxygen vacancies while gamma ray irradiation supplies electrons.

Luminescence dating of Nuomuhong culture ceramics at Talitaliha site on the Northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

As a daily utensil and artefact, the presence of ceramic at an archaeological site is direct evidence of human activity. While ceramics have been found at numerous sites on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), most have been aged using conventional methods such as typology or radiocarbon dating of associated charcoal and bone. In this study, five sand-tempered grey ceramics from Talitaliha in the Qaidam Basin were dated using quartz and K-feldspar OSL. The reliability of the ceramic OSL ages was determined using six independent radiocarbon samples, three charcoal and three bone, from the same cultural layer. Six additional OSL ages were determined on sandy loess sediments at the Talitaliha site to provide upper and lower limits for the ceramic ages. The ceramic luminescence dating results are in good agreement with the 14C ages and are within the constraints of the stratigraphic OSL ages, suggesting that OSL dating of ceramics has great potential for archaeological research on the QTP. The determined age range for the Talitaliha site was between 3400–2800 cal BP; this fits well with Nuomuhong culture dates from other locations in the Qaidam Basin that range between 3400–2450 cal BP.

Post-IR IRSL chronology of paleo-lacustrine sediments from yardangs in the Qaidam Basin, ne Tibetan Plateau

The Qaidam Basin preserves the largest Yardang field on Earth, and yardangs are intriguing landforms for studies of the paleo-environment and aeolian processes. Formation of yardangs involved both the initial lacustrine deposition and the subsequent wind-erosion processes. However, the timings of both processes in the Qaidam Basin are still controversial due to limited age data and unsuitable dating methodology. In this paper, we first compared two optical dating methods to determine the suitable one for the study area, then investigated the geomorphic processes based on the new ages. Two-step post-IR IRSL (pIRIR) and multi-elevated-temperature pIRIR (MET-pIRIR) methods of feldspar, were applied to date lacustrine sediments on the top parts of yardangs to decipher the transition time from depositional to an erosional environment. Comparisons of the two methods demonstrated that the influence from anomalous fading was very minimal thus negligible for MET-pIRIR method, as proved by the De plateau between MET-pIRIR250 and MET-pIRIR290; while the pIR50IR250 signals suffered from fading obviously, which was difficult to be corrected due to the high De close to saturation. Consequently, the chronology in this study was based on the MET-pIRIR250 method, potentially offering reliable ages of over 200 ka. Seven MET-pIRIR250 ages of 201–336 ka suggested that a mega-Qaidam Lake (>2714 m a.s.l. on Google Earth) maintained until Marine Isotopic Stage (MIS) 7. The absence of sediments since ca. 200 ka implied wind-erosion and yardang formation since MIS6. This transition from lacustrine to a wind-erosion environment was interpreted as a response to the glacial-interglacial scale climatic changes.

Multi-method luminescence dating of old fluvial sediments from northern Tian Shan, China

At the eastern tip of Anjihai anticline on the northern piedmont of Tian Shan (northwest China), deformed fluvial deposits have recorded active folding since the Pleistocene, but the absence of accurate ages makes it difficult to evaluate the anticline’s shortening rate. Geological studies ascribed the fluvial strata to the early Pleistocene, which poses potential challenges for luminescence dating. In this study, multi-methods luminescence dating was applied to a fluvial sand sample taken from the sandy bed of the deformed basal strata. Single grain post-Infrared Infrared Stimulated Luminescence (pIRIR) and multiple-aliquot-regenerative (MAR) dose along with multiple-elevated-temperature pIRIR (MET-pIRIR) procedures were applied to determine the paleodose of the sample. The methodological uncertainties, such as thermal transfer and initial sensitivity change, were treated by increasing the test dose and performing dose recovery test. With consideration of the potential partial bleaching and anomalous fading, various statistical metrics were applied to the De values determined by using the single grain pIRIR225, single grain pIRIR290 and MAR-MET-pIRIR290 signals. The minimum age model (MAM) De values are 11% – 17% lower than the central age model (CAM) De values in general, and the MAM De values determined by the single grain pIRIR procedures are underestimated by more than 40% when compared with those determined by MAR-MET-pIRIR290 procedure. The MAM MAR-MET-pIRIR290 De of 811 ± 44 Gy results in a burial age of 284 ka for the basal deformed fluvial strata, which is much younger than the proposed early Pleistocene age.

The application of full spectrum analysis to NaI(Tl) gamma spectrometry for the determination of burial dose rates

In this study, we explored the potential of a NaI(Tl) scintillator-based gamma spectrometer for the accurate determination of burial dose rates in natural geological samples using a full spectrum analysis (FSA) approach. In this method, an iterative reweighted least-square regression is used to fit calibration standard spectra (40K, and 238U and 232Th series in equilibrium) to the sample spectrum, after subtraction of an appropriate background. The resulting minimum detection limits for 40K, 238U, and 232Th are 4.8, 0.4 and 0.3 Bq·kg–1, respectively (for a 0.23 kg sample); this is one order of magnitude lower than those obtained with the three-window approach previously reported by us, and well below the concentrations found in most natural sediments. These improved values are also comparable to those from high-resolution HPGe gamma spectrometry. Almost all activity concentrations of 40K, 238U, and 232Th from 20 measured natural samples differ by ≤5% from the high resolution spectrometry values; the average ratio of dose rates derived from our NaI(Tl) spectrometer to those from HPGe spectrometry is 0.993 ± 0.004 (n=20). We conclude that our scintillation spectrometry system employing FSA is a useful alternative laboratory method for accurate and precise determination of burial dose rates at a significantly lower cost than high resolution gamma spectrometry.