Recent advances in luminescence dating of Late Pleistocene (cold‐climate) aeolian sand and loess deposits in western Europe

Aeolian dune and sand sheet deposits, as well as sandy loess and loess deposits, cover extensive areas in the northwest and central European Lowlands. These sediments have received a great deal of attention during recent decades, leading to a variety of litho‐ and chronostratigraphic classifications. Although the aeolian stratigraphic record is known in great detail in most European countries, there is still discussion about the exact timing of phases of aeolian deposition, due to the fact that dates usually relate to materials reflecting phases of non‐deposition. This paper presents an overview of recent advances in luminescence dating of cold‐climate, predominantly Last Glacial (Weichselian), aeolian sand and loess deposits. These dates are compared with the results of conventional radiocarbon and AMS‐dating of palaeosols and other stratigraphic marker horizons. Although optical luminescence dating techniques, especially of the quartz fraction, appears to provide reliable ages for aeolian sediments in western Europe ranging in age from a few decades to at least 150 ka BP, there still are various uncertainties in the interpretation of luminescence ages due to methodological problems, difficulties in field extrapolation of stratigraphic relationships, and limited independent chronological control. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.