Optical Dating of Quartz from Young Deposits: From Single-Aliquot to Single-Grain

Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating is a tool used in Quaternary Geology for assessing ages of depositional mineral grains such as quartz, feldspars and zircons. In particular, OSL showed to be exceptionally robust and reliable for dating quartz samples. OSL dating relies on the assumption that the luminescence signal of grains is fully reset to zero by sunlight exposure before deposition. If this requirement is not fulfilled (i.e. grains were ‘poorly-bleached’), ages may be gros...