Optically stimulated luminescence dating of single and multiple grains of quartz from perennially frozen loess in western Yukon Territory, Canada: Comparison with radiocarbon chronologies for the late Pleistocene Dawson tephra |
| |
| Authors: | M Demuro RG Roberts DG Froese LJ Arnold F Brock CBronk Ramsey |
| |
| Institution: | aGeoQuest Research Centre, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia;bDepartment of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E3;cResearch Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK |
| |
| Abstract: | Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of perennially frozen loess was tested on quartz grains extracted from deposits associated with the late Pleistocene Dawson tephra in western Yukon Territory, Canada. OSL samples were obtained from ice-rich loess bracketing the Dawson tephra, while radiocarbon (14C) samples were collected from the bulk sediments directly underlying the tephra and from a ground-squirrel burrow 2.7 m below the tephra. Here we report the OSL characteristics and ages of the extracted quartz grains, as well as additional radiocarbon ages for samples described in Froese 2002. Age and significance of the late Pleistocene Dawson tephra in eastern Beringia. Quaternary Science Reviews 21, 2137–2142; 2006. Seasonality of the late Pleistocene Dawson tephra and exceptional preservation of a buried riparian surface in central Yukon Territory, Canada. Quaternary Science Reviews 25, 1542–1551]. We refine the time of Dawson tephra deposition to between 25,420±70 and 25,290±80 14C a BP. Bayesian analysis of constraining radiocarbon ages places the deposition of the Dawson tephra at between 30,433 and 30,032 cal a BP. Linear modulation (LM) OSL analysis of multi-grain aliquots of quartz showed that the initial part of the decay curve is dominated by a rapidly bleached (‘fast’) component; these samples, however, had relatively dim continuous wave (CW) OSL signals at the multi-grain aliquot (each composed of  80 grains) and single-grain scales of analysis. The single-aliquot regenerative-dose protocol was applied to multi-grain aliquots and single grains to obtain equivalent dose (De) values for samples collected from below and above the Dawson tephra. The De values were examined graphically and numerically, the latter using the central age, minimum age, and finite mixture models. For multi-grain aliquots, the central age model gave weighted mean De values between 30 and 50 Gy, which greatly underestimated the expected De of 74–81 Gy for both samples studied. Possible reasons for these underestimations are discussed, and a solution proposed based on single-grain analysis. Measurements of single grains produced De values in agreement with the expected De, and yielded OSL ages of 28±5 and 30±4 ka for the samples taken from above and below the Dawson tephra, respectively. Examination of individual grains with differing luminescence behaviors showed that a significant number of the measured quartz grains exhibited anomalous luminescence properties that would have compromised the results obtained from multi-grain aliquots. We therefore recommend analysis of individual grains to overcome the age-shortfall from multi-grain analysis of these and similar samples of quartz. |
| |
| Keywords: | OSL dating Single grain Dawson tephra Radiocarbon Klondike Tephrochronology |
| 本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录！ |
|
