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Luminescence dating of historical fluvial deposits from the Danube and Ebro
Author(s) -
Fiebig Markus,
Preusser Frank,
Steffen Damian,
ThamóBozsó Edit,
Grabner Michael,
Lair Georg J.,
Gerzabek Martin H.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
geoarchaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1520-6548
pISSN - 0883-6353
DOI - 10.1002/gea.20264
Subject(s) - fluvial , optically stimulated luminescence , optical dating , geology , deposition (geology) , archaeology , geomorphology , physical geography , geochemistry , paleontology , geography , holocene , sediment , quartz , structural basin
The validity of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) has been tested on known‐age (historical) fluvial deposits along the rivers Danube (Austria) and Ebro (Spain). As partial bleaching of the OSL signal prior to deposition can interfere with correct age estimates, different approaches to extracting the dose accumulated during burial are compared. Using the finite mixture model gave OSL ages that are internally as well as stratigraphically consistent and in agreement with independent age control. According to these results, fluvial deposition at the Danube River study site can be attributed to different periods ranging from Bronze Age to the 18th century A.D. Fluvial deposits of Roman age and of the late 17th or early 18th century A.D. were found at the Ebro River study site. This is consistent with the morphological subdivision of the valleys and encourages further investigation of the fluvial and archaeological history of the study areas using OSL. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.