Progress towards a poly-mineral single-aliquot OSL dating procedure

Published single-aliquot regenerative-dose (SAR) procedures for quartz use a 'cut-heat' different from the pre-heat. In contrast, previous work has shown that the SAR procedure can be used to correct for sensitivity changes exhibited by feldspars if the cut-heat is equal to the pre-heat. In this paper, a procedure that corrects for sensitivity changes in both quartz and feldspar is tested. The results indicate that for sedimentary quartz the cut-heat can be equal to the pre-heat. Thus, it may be possible to develop one procedure to measure equivalent doses in a poly-mineral sample. We also tested several different optical stimulation methods. Using the infrared (IR)-stimulated signal from a post-IR blue-stimulated optically stimulated luminescence sequence extends the potential age range when using feldspathic materials. In addition, since the post-IR blue-stimulated signal from feldspar is much smaller than the blue-stimulated signal from quartz, the possibility exists of extracting a 'quartz signal' from a mixed mineral sample. (authors)