Multispectral athermal fading rate measurements of K-feldspar

This study reports athermal fading rates in K-feldspar grains extracted from sediments of varied ages and provenances. Multiple combinations of stimulation and emission spectral regions were examined to identify an optimum combination that provides a luminescence signal with minimal athermal fading. Stimulation wave-lengths used were IR (855 +/- 33 nm), green (525 +/- 30 nm), blue (470 +/- 20 nm), and violet (405 +/- 15 nm), and detection windows were broad-UV (260-400 nm), narrow-UV (327-353 nm), and blue (320-520 nm). Athermal fading rates using a single stimulation and sequential double stimulation combinations were estimated. For single stimulation, the average fading rates (g(AV)) ranged from 6.6 to 7.9% per decade. Sequential double stimulation comprising post green-blue (pGB), post blue-violet (pBV), post blue-IR (pBIR), and post violet-IR (pVIR) gave fading rates ranging from 2.0 to 0.0% per decade. The minimum fading rate value gAV = 0.0 +/- 0.1% per decade was obtained for pVIR stimulation, and this highlights it as a potential candidate for dating sediments such that the tedium and time of fading measurements can be minimized.

Automated summary

This study explores the athermal fading rates in K-feldspar grains from sediments of different ages and provenances. The researchers tested various combinations of stimulation and emission spectral regions to find the optimal combination that minimizes athermal fading. They found that using sequential double stimulation resulted in lower fading rates, with the post violet-IR stimulation showing the lowest fading rate.