DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17481529
title: Geochronology of the Batagay Megaslump in East Siberia: B19-LU luminescence dating data sets and R scripts

description: To improve the geochronology of the ancient permafrost deposits exposed in the headwall of the Batagay Megaslump in East Siberia (67.58°N, 134.77°E), we estimated the age of frozen sediments with luminescence dating and supplemented the results with other dating approaches and stratigraphical interpretation.

 
description: This data set contains infrared-stimulated luminescence (IRSL) measurements of the K-feldspar fraction of B19 samples. This data set contains also data analysis scripts and reports. The measurements (*.binx files) were performed at two Risø TL/OSL DA-20 readers (Bøtter-Jensen et al. 2003) using the pIR-IRSL290 protocol described by Thiel et al. (2011). The analyses were coded in R and formatted, commented and compiled in Quarto scripts (*.qmd files), automatically created analysis reports (*.pdf files) and result tables (*.txt files). To run the R code, the packages Luminescence (Kreutzer et al. 2025) and OSLdecomposition (Mittelstraß et a. 2025) are necessary.

 

Data structure

00 Data sets.zipContains the raw luminescence dating measurements of B19-LU-05, -06, -13 and -14 and the fading test measurement of B19-LU-01 in the NTU Risø OSL/TL reader data format (*.binx).

01 Paleodose calculations (first iteration).zipContains Quarto R scripts analysing luminescence dating measurements of B19-LU-05, -06, -13 and -14, detailed analysis reports and result tables containing equivalent doses and other parameters. The analyses were performed in three batches between September 2022 and July 2023 and did not use the same script parameters as the knowledge about these improved with growing data and experience. 

02 Paleodose calculations (revised).zipContains reworked and shortened Quarto R scripts, analysis reports and result tables analysing the same data as in the ‘01’ folder. This time the script parameters were identical and several small data analysis issues were solved. The resulting paleodoses and dose distribution values are those published in Opel et al. (in revision).

03 Environmental dose rate and age calculations.zipContains environmental dose rate and sample age calculations, performed with the DRAC calculator by Durcan et al. (2015). Radionuclide concentrations were obtained from gamma-spectrometry measurements in the VKTA Felsenkeller laboratory. As paleodoses, those obtained in data set '02' were used. The resulting dose rate values and sample ages are those published in Opel et al. (in revision).

04 Fading test.zipContains Quarto R script and according report analysing the fading test measurement of B19-LU-01 with the approaches of Huntley and Lamothe (2001) and Novothny et al. (2010). 

05 Paleodose calculations with experimental fading reduction.zipSimilar to folder ‘02’ but as a pre-processing step, the fast-decaying signal components were removed prior analyses, based on the results of the fading test after Novothny et al. (2010). The resulting paleodoses are affected less of anormalous fading and are around 10 % higher.

References

Bøtter-Jensen, L., Andersen, C.E., Duller, G.A.T., Murray, A.S. (2003). Developments in radiation, stimulation and observation facilities in luminescence measurements. Radiation Measurements 37, 535–541. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1350-4487(03)00020-9

Durcan, J.A., King, G.E., Duller, G.A.T., (2015). DRAC: Dose Rate and Age Calculator for trapped charge dating. Quaternary Geochronology 28, 54–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2015.03.012

Huntley, D.J., Lamothe, M. (2001). Ubiquity of anomalous fading in K-feldspars and the measurement and correction for it in optical dating. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 38, 1093–1106. https://doi.org/10.1139/e01-013

Kreutzer, S., Burow, C., Dietze, M., Fuchs, M., Schmidt, C., Fischer, M., Friedrich, J., Mercier, N., Philippe, A., Riedesel, S., Autzen, M., Mittelstraß, D., Gray, H., Galharret, J., Colombo, M., Steinbuch L, de Boer, A. (2025). Luminescence: Comprehensive Luminescence Dating Data Analysis. https://doi.org/10.32614/CRAN.package.Luminescence, R package version 1.1.1

Mittelstraß, D., Kreutzer, S., Schmidt, C. (2025). OSLdecomposition: Signal Component Analysis for Optically Stimulated Luminescence. https://doi.org/10.32614/CRAN.package.OSLdecomposition, R package version 1.1.0

Novothny, Á., Frechen, M., Horváth, E., Krbetschek, M., Tsukamoto, S. (2010). Infrared stimulated luminescence and radiofluorescence dating of aeolian sediments from Hungary. Quaternary Geochronology, 5, 114–119.  ttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2009.05.002

Opel, T., Wolter, J., Kizyakov, A., Grotheer, H., Gentz, T., Mollenhauer, G., Fritz, M., Fuchs, M.C., Lauer, T., Mittelstraß, D., Meyer, H., Wetterich, S., (in revision). Geochronology of the Upper Ice Complex (Yedoma) exposed in the Batagay Megaslump. East Siberia. Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research.

Thiel, C., Buylaert, J.-P., Murray, A., Terhorst, B., Hofer, I., Tsukamoto, S., Frechen, M. (2011). Luminescence dating of the Stratzing loess profile (Austria) – Testing the potential of an elevated temperature post-IR IRSL protocol. Quaternary International 234, 23–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2010.05.018
description: Funding

Fieldwork and sampling were funded through institutional core funding of the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Potsdam, Germany. Sample preparation, measurements and analyses  were  funded through DFG grant no. WE4390/7-1 to S. Wetterich and institutional core funding of the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Potsdam, Germany. In the final phase of data analysis, D. Mittelstraß was supported by DFG project ARENICOLA (#553815036).