HF treatment for the isolation of fine grain quartz for luminescence dating

Abstract

Optical dating of silt sized quartz is advantageous for fluvially transported sediments where the extent of predepositional zeroing is uncertain. The effect of sunlight on the OSL of quartz is faster, than for feldspar, and the silt sized particles being carried closer to the surface of water than sand sized ones will have received a greater sunlight exposure. An HF treatment for isolation of quartz, requiring only a few hours, is described. This method has been found to be useful for samples containing up to 40% feldspar.