Multi-method luminescence dating of late Cenozoic northern Upper Rhine Graben sediments

The Upper Rhine Graben (URG) hosts one of the most continuous sequences of unconsolidated late Cenozoic sediments in central Europe. Its location between the northern European inland and alpine glaciation during the Pleistocene provides the opportunity to investigate the interactions of tectonic and climatic control on sedimentation and erosion processes. In 2020/21, a new continental drilling campaign was carried out by the Hessian State Agency for Nature Conservation, Environment and Geology (HLNUG) near Riedstadt-Erfelden in the northern part of the URG to obtain information on the development of the graben system and its infillings, complementing results from previous drillings. This study presents geochronologic data derived from combined luminescence dating approaches. Preliminary results using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and infrared-radiofluorescence (IR-RF) are supplemented with infrared-stimulated luminescence (IRSL), post-infrared-IRSL (pIRIR) and infrared photoluminescence (IRPL) signals. The latter represents an innovative approach, utilising a potentially non-destructive and non-fading signal from K-feldspar. For the first time, we applied the multiple elevated temperature (MET)-pIRIR-IRPL single aliquot regenerative dose (SAR) protocol suggested by Kumar et al. (2021) to fluvial samples. Furthermore, the results are compared to ΔIRPL signals derived from the same protocol.

References

Kumar, R., Kook, M., Jain, M., 2021. Sediment dating using infrared photoluminescence. Quat. Geochronol. 62, 101147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2020.101147.