OSL and Cosmogenic 10Be Dating of Fluvial Terraces on the Northeast Pamir Margin, Northwest China

Abstract:

Along the northeast Pamir margin in northwest China, flights of late Pleistocene fluvial terraces span actively deforming structures. We present detailed results on three terraces that we dated using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and cosmogenic ¹⁰Be techniques. Quartz OSL dating of two different grain sizes (4-11 and 90-180 μm) revealed the fine-grain quartz fraction overestimates the terrace ages by up to an order of magnitude. Two-mm, small-aliquot, coarse-grain quartz OSL ages, calculated using the finite mixture model, yielded stratigraphically consistent ages within error and dated times of terrace deposition to ~15 ka, ~18.5 ka, and ~75 ka. We speculate the observed grain-size dependence of OSL ages is likely related to the mode of transport of the grains in the fluvial system, with coarser grains sizes spending more time on sand bars where they are more thoroughly bleached than grains in the turbid, commonly episodic flows that carry the silt fraction. Our study suggests that, in flashy, turbid fluvial systems, coarse-grain OSL samples are likely to yield more reliable depositional ages than will fine-grain samples. Cosmogenic ¹⁰Be depth profiles date the times of terrace abandonment to ~8 ka, ~15 ka, and ~75 ka, yielding ages in overall agreement with the coarse-grain OSL ages. These ages are generally consistent with other dated terraces in the region that place their deposition and subsequent abandonment during the last deglaciation (13-18 ka) and suggest the formation of these terraces on the margins of the Tarim Basin and along the flanks of the Tian Shan is climatically controlled.