Single-grain TT-OSL dating results confirm an Early Pleistocene age for the lower Moulouya River deposits (NE Morocco)

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
File version
Author(s)
Bartz, M
Arnold, LJ
Demuro, M
Duval, M
King, GE
Rixhon, G
Alvarez Posada, C
Pares, JM
Brueckner, H
Griffith University Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Other Supervisors
Editor(s)
Date
2019
Size
File type(s)
Location
Abstract

The lower Moulouya River (NE Morocco) drains a tectonically active area related to the NW-SE convergence of the African and Eurasian plates. Fluvial deposits preserved in the lower Moulouya have been dated to ∼1.5–1.1 Ma, as part of a recent multi-technique geochronology study involving electron spin resonance and luminescence methods, in combination with Palaeomagnetism. The present work aims to verify and refine the existing Early Pleistocene ages for the Moulouya deposits using single-grain thermally transferred-OSL (TT-OSL) dating. The single-grain TT-OSL De distributions are characterised by high overdispersion (77–91%), significant negative skewness, and several discrete populations can be identified when applying the finite mixture model (FMM). The lowest FMM dose components of the TT-OSL datasets comprise relatively dim grains that have very slow decays. The Fast Ratio (FR) was therefore used to explore whether the presence of slower-decaying TT-OSL components might have exerted a significant effect on our De values. Our samples show a 40–50% increase in weighted mean De and a 50–100% decrease in overdispersion when applying a FR acceptance threshold of 2, resulting in the elimination of the lowest FMM component. Application of a higher FR value does not result in any additional change in TT-OSL De value. Dose recovery tests confirm the suitability of the single-grain TT-OSL protocol and use of an additional FR acceptance threshold of ≥2 for final age determination. Previous geomorphic interpretations suggested a capture event occurred at the Beni Snassen gorge between 1.04 and 1.36 Ma at the latest. This interpretation is supported by the newly obtained TT-OSL ages, which reveal that fluvial deposition occurred between ∼1.09 and ∼1.15 Ma.

Journal Title

Quaternary Geochronology

Conference Title
Book Title
Edition
Volume

49

Issue
Thesis Type
Degree Program
School
Publisher link
Patent number
Funder(s)
Grant identifier(s)
Rights Statement
Rights Statement

© 2018, Elsevier. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, providing that the work is properly cited.

Item Access Status
Note
Access the data
Related item(s)
Subject

Geochemistry

Geochemistry not elsewhere classified

Geology

Physical geography and environmental geoscience

Persistent link to this record
Citation
Collections