Sedimentary development and correlation of Late Quaternary terraces in the Kyrenia Range, northern Cyprus, using a combination of sedimentology and optical luminescence data

Portable optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) readers are increasingly being used in geomorphological and archaeological investigations, but information regarding data reproducibility and the reliability of interpretations based on portable OSL reader data has not yet been presented to the wider geomorphological community. This Letter addresses these two issues by returning to Grabben Gullen Creek in the southeastern Australian Tablelands where we remeasure a sediment profile that was first measured by other researchers 3 years earlier. We also compare portable OSL reader data measured on sediment interpreted to have been deposited in swampy meadow wetlands and flood alluvium settings with data measured on known swampy meadow and flood deposits. Our data show that portable OSL reader data are reproducible. Moreover, we confirm the earlier interpretation that stratigraphies commonly exposed in southeastern Australian Tablelands valley bottoms reflect pre‐European swampy meadow wetlands and flood alluvium. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Confirming geomorphological interpretations based on portable OSL reader data

Portenga

Bishop

2015

“…For these reasons, sediment transported through fluvial systems is often incompletely bleached and deposited with an inherited luminescence signal (Wallinga, ; Thomas et al , ; Rittenour, ). The measurement of this inherited luminescence using pOSL readers has been used to understand geomorphological processes in coastal, aeolian, fluvial, glacial, and archaeological settings (Bishop et al , ; Sanderson and Murphy, ; Muñoz‐Salinas et al , ; Kinnaird et al , ; Munyikwa et al , ; Stang et al , ; Castillo et al , ; King et al , ; Munyikwa and Brown, ; Bateman et al , ; Stone et al , ; Palamakumbura et al , ; Portenga and Bishop, ; Portenga et al , ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Landscape preservation under post‐European settlement alluvium in the south‐eastern Australian tablelands, inferred from portable OSL reader data

Portenga

Bishop

Gore

et al. 2016

Human land-use changes leading to widespread erosion and gully incision have been well studied, but the effects that erosion and sediment mixing, which accompany the deposition of post-(European) settlement alluvium (PSA), have in valley bottoms and wetlands receive considerably less attention. PSA overlying pre-disturbance swampy meadow (SM) wetland sediments is commonly exposed along incised stream channel gully walls throughout the south-eastern Australian Tablelands, providing an ideal setting in which to assess and understand better how PSA deposition affects valley bottoms and the wetland environments that often occupy them. Portable optically stimulated luminescence (pOSL) reader data were measured on bulk sediment samples from SM-PSA stratigraphies at 16 locations throughout the south-eastern Australian Tablelands to assess the effects of erosion and sediment mixing at the SM-PSA boundary. Trends of pOSL data with depth at each profile were used in conjunction with visual profile descriptions to identify the stratigraphic boundary between SM and PSA sediment and to infer the degree of valley bottom erosion and sediment mixing during PSA deposition. At most sites, SM sediments experienced minimal, if any, disturbance during PSA deposition, and we refer to these as non-eroded sites. Many sites, however, experienced a significant degree of erosion and sediment mixing -eroded sites -often corresponding to visually diffuse sedimentary boundaries between the two stratigraphic units. Our findings demonstrate that SM landscapes in the Tablelands can be preserved with minimal disturbance under PSA at non-eroded sites and are preserved beneath a mixing zone at all eroded sites.

“…(2014), Palamakumbura et al . (2016), Portenga and Bishop (2016), Portenga et al . (2016), Kinnaird et al .…”

Section: Contextualizing Sediment Stratigraphy By Luminescence Profilmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Gray et al ., 2018) and marine processes have also been investigated (e.g. Palamakumbura et al ., 2016; Sanderson and Kinnaird, 2019) with varying degrees of success. Furthermore, the applications of the portable OSL reader span from purely geomorphological investigations (Bateman et al ., 2015) to geoarchaeological and archaeological studies (e.g.…”

Section: Conclusion and Further Outlookmentioning

confidence: 99%

The potential of portable luminescence readers in geomorphological investigations: a review

Munyikwa

Kinnaird

Sanderson

2020

Self Cite

The development of functional portable optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) readers over the last decade has provided practitioners with the capability to acquire luminescence signals from geological materials relatively rapidly, which allows for expedient preliminary chronostratigraphic insight when working with complex depositional systems of late Quaternary age. Typically, when using the portable OSL reader, infrared (IR) or blue post‐IR OSL signals are acquired from bulk unprocessed materials, in contrast to regular luminescence dating, which is usually based on measurements on pure quartz or feldspar mineral separates, or on select silt‐sized polymineralic portions. To demonstrate the utility of portable OSL measurements, this paper outlines the basic features of portable OSL readers and their constraints. Subsequently, case studies in which the instrument has been used to elucidate cryptostratigraphic variations in sedimentary sequences for geomorphological applications are reviewed. The studies can generally be grouped into three main categories. The first includes studies where the variation of portable OSL reader luminescence signal intensities with depth are plotted to generate profiles that contextualize sediment stratigraphy. In the second group, portable OSL reader luminescence signal intensities are used to interpret sediment processes that shed light on depositional histories. In the last category, luminescence signals from the portable OSL reader are calibrated to approximate numerical burial ages of depositional units. The paper concludes with a discussion of possible future directions. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.