Optical stimulated Luminescence Signal on Modern Fluvial Deposit in Taiwan

Abstract:

The river terraces overlain by fluvial and debris-flow deposit are widely distributed in Taiwan due to its active tectonic situation. They are not only critical in reconstructing the river evolution, but also of importance in understanding neotectonics. However, the age estimation for the terraces has their own problems by C-14 as well as OSL (Optical Stimulated Luminescence) dating method. For C-14 method, the major problem is the difficulty in discovering the suitable samples, but for OSL method the zeroing effect of the sediments becomes the major barrier if quartz SAR (Single Aliquot Regenerative) procedure is applied. In order to test the residual dose from different drainage areas in Taiwan, modern deposits were collected from 13 main rivers and 3 samples for each from upper-stream to downstream. The apparent dose of modern fluvial deposit was defined as residual dose and believed to be able to give a hint for estimating the zeroing effect for river terraces. Quartz SAR OSL procedure on small aliquot was adopted for all samples in this study.

Our results show the residual dose in western Taiwan strongly relies on the source from. If we further apply the mean value of smallest 5% on samples from modern debris flow deposits in upper-stream, the residual dose rise up as high as ~40Gy but lower down to ~15Gy for samples collected from river mouth estuary. It implies that there will be a large error when evaluating the age of debris deposit terrace by quartz SAR OSL procedure. However, if the modern river does not suffer from debris flow in upper-stream, the residual dose is ~5Gy in upper stream and only -0.7~2Gy to the lower steam estuary, which provide better chance to derive relatively reliable ages. We also find that the luminescence characteristics is different between the samples in western and eastern Taiwan respectively. The quartz grains from eastern Taiwan are much dimer than those of the western Taiwan. We may therefore face severe challenge to approach a reliable age for a river terrace located in eastern Taiwan.