Study of the 110 degrees C TL peak sensitivity in optical dating of quartz

As the 110 degreesC TL emission in quartz uses the same luminescence center s as the OSL emission, the 110 degreesC TL signal from a test dose may be u sed to monitor the OSL sensitivity change. It is thus important to study th e relationship between the 110 degreesC TL. peak and the OSL sensitivity in studies related to optical dating from quartz. We have conducted a series of experiments using sedimentary quartz, where the annealing temperatures w ere varied between 260 and 1000 degreesC before the measurement of OSL and 110 degreesC TL sensitivities. Another series of experiments on two sedimen tary quartz samples investigated the 110 degreesC TL peak and OSL dose-depe ndent sensitivity change after different annealing temperatures. In these e xperiments, the 110 degreesC TL and OSL signals from the test dose are show n to have similar sensitization characteristics: the 110 degreesC TL sensit ivity change is proportional to the OSL sensitivity change if the annealing temperature is lower than 500 degreesC. It is concluded that the 110 degre esC TL signal can be used to correct the OSL sensitivity change in the sing le-aliquot additive-dose protocol. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All right s resented.