Existence of a common growth curve for silt-sized quartz OSL of loess from different continents

Recent publications revealed different opinions regarding the existence of a common growth curve (CGC) for OSL of quartz. In the current study, 18 loess samples were collected from four continents (Asia, America, Africa, and Europe) in order to further examine this issue. Except the three samples from Chile in South America, 15 samples display similar dose–response curves up to a regeneration dose of 200 Gy using the SAR protocol, suggesting the existence of a global CGC for loess from different continents. For samples with equivalent doses (De)De) from ∼10∼10 to ∼170Gy, the DeDes determined by the CGC are in good agreement with the DeDes by the SAR protocol. The Chilean samples posses a growth curve that differs from the CGC, showing much lower saturation doses. We suggest that it may be due to contamination with heavy minerals.