Assessment of diagnostic tests for evaluating the reliability of SAR De values from polymineral and quartz fine grains

In this study, we applied optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating to two fine grain sediment samples collected at Jeongokri, Korea. A single aliquot regenerative dose (SAR) procedure was applied to both polymineral grains and to chemically isolated (H2SiF6) quartz grains of 4–11 μm diameter. For polymineral fine grains, the OSL IR depletion ratio and the equivalent dose (De) plateau test appear to be equally sensitive indicators of appropriate IR stimulation time for use in the ‘double SAR’ protocol. Additionally, the OSL IR depletion ratio test gives an indication of the relative mineral composition of the samples, hence providing an assessment of the likelihood of obtaining a quartz-dominated [post-IR] OSL signal. Use of higher preheat temperatures would assist in thermally eroding the non-quartz component of the [post-IR] OSL signal from polyminerals. For the quartz fine grains, data from both natural De determinations and laboratory dose recovery tests are required to identify the appropriate preheat temperatures for dating, due to problems of thermal transfer. This phenomenon is particularly exaggerated for these samples due to the large De values (≥350 Gy) and hence low slope of the dose–response curve. The double SAR method cannot be applied ubiquitously, even after careful and rigorous study of one sample from a section. Quartz OSL dating using a range of preheat temperatures is suggested to be the most suitable method for OSL dating of fine grain sediments.