Applying OSL profiling and dating on sediment        cores to reconstruct landscape changes: pitfalls and strengths

doi:10.4000/14nsu

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49-1 | 2025
16th International Conference on Archeological Prospection

2. Environmental studies and (paleo-)landscape mapping

Applying OSL profiling and dating on sediment cores to reconstruct landscape changes: pitfalls and strengths

Soetkin Vervust, Víctor Cartelle, Ruth Plets and Zoë Vanbiervliet

p. 347-350

https://doi.org/10.4000/14nsu

Abstract | Index | Excerpt | References | About the authors

Abstract

OSL-PD gives insight into stratigraphic complexities in coastal cores, Provides a cross-check for radiocarbon results, Enhances palaeolandscape reconstruction accuracy

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Index terms

Keywords:

optically stimulated luminescence, portable OSL reader, coastal landscape evolution, Belgian coastal archaeology

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Excerpt

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Full-text article is available on Cairn platform in open access. It will be available on this URL in January 2027.
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Outline

Introduction

Methods

Results and Discussion

Conclusion

First lines

Introduction

Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating provides a direct age estimate of the last time quartz or feldspar minerals in a sediment were exposed to enough light to reduce a previous luminescence signal to zero – a process also referred to as bleaching, which resets the OSL clock. Luminescence is caused by exposure of minerals to naturally occurring ionizing radiation from radioisotopes in the sample and the surrounding sediment, and through incoming cosmic radiation. Once a sediment is buried and protected from light, this radiation causes electrons to slowly accumulate in defects in a mineral’s crystal lattice. The total amount of absorbed radiation energy is known as the burial dose. Subsequent exposure to light causes the trapped electrons to be released, each emitting a photon of light in the process. The intensity of this luminescence signal is directly propo...

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References

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Electronic reference

Soetkin Vervust, Víctor Cartelle, Ruth Plets and Zoë Vanbiervliet, “Applying OSL profiling and dating on sediment cores to reconstruct landscape changes: pitfalls and strengths”, ArcheoSciences [Online], 49-1 | 2025, Online since 15 September 2025, connection on 10 October 2026. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/archeosciences/18963; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/14nsu

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