Treatment of broad palaeodose distributions in OSL dating of dune sands from the western Murray Basin, South Australia

Preliminary results of an optically stimulated luminescence dating study in the western Murray Basin in semi-arid south-eastern Australia are presented. The ultimate objective of the dating study is a reconstruction of dune formation indicative of palaeoclimatic changes in this region. So far, one site has been dated using the single-aliquot regenerative (SAR) dose protocol for quartz. A high scatter in individual palaeodoses was observed, which is unexpected in supposedly well bleached aeolian deposits. Therefore other sources of variability such as microdosimetry and bioturbation have to be taken into account. Nevertheless, the resulting ages are in chronostratigraphic order and document a long aeolian record from 180 to 9 ka.