LUMINESCENCE DATING OF LATE QUATERNARY AEOLIAN DEPOSITS AT DALE LAKE AND CRONESE MOUNTAINS, MOJAVE DESERT, CALIFORNIA

Relict aeolian deposits and landforms that can provide important infor mation on the timing, geographical extent and intensity of periods of aeolian sand accumulation are widespread in the Mojave Desert, Califor nia. The Pleistocene part of the record is mostly undated. The stratig raphy and sedimentology of sites near Dale Lake (Dale Lake sand ramp) and the Cronese Mountains (Cat Dune) were studied, and luminescence da ting techniques used to try to establish a chronological framework for the deposits. The dating of these sites proved difficult, with major disparities between the results of quartz and feldspar thermoluminesce nce (TL) dating, particularly where the sediments comprised a mixture of aeolian and colluvial material. However, initial results, based on quartz TL and feldspar infra-red stimulated luminescence dating, indic ate the existence of two main periods of Late Pleistocene aeolian depo sition between >35 to 25 ka and 15 to 10 ka.