OSL Dating of Sea Floor Sediments at the Okinawa Trough

Abstract

In estimating the ages of sea floor hydrothermal deposits, the age of the sediments overlying it would give the youngest limit if the sedimentation age is correct. The OSL (optically stimulated luminescence) method was applied to two sediment cores taken by an acrylic corer from the seafloor in the Okinawa Trough. The ages, obtained by the polymineral fine grain method, did not correlate with the stratigraphic sequence within the core, implying either insufficient bleaching of the sediments at the time of the deposition or mixing of sediments of different ages. The polymineral fine grain OSL dating method did not work to date the present sediment samples at the sea floor in the Okinawa Trough.