In luminescence dating of sediments, Mayya et al. (2006) pointed out that at single grain level, the beta dose for quartz grains is heterogeneous. This heterogeneity arises due the fact that the total potassium in sediment is contributed by few feldspar grains with up to 11–14% stoichiometric potassium (Huntley and Baril, 1997). Beta particles have a range of ∼2 mm, which is comparable to grain sizes and inter-grain distances. This fact implies that the spatial fluctuation of beta emitters (K-feldspars) around individual quartz grains results in heterogeneous dose deposition. These fluctuations therefore, lead to an inherent spread in palaeodoses received by individual quartz grains. In this study, we compute the spread in single aliquot palaeodoses that arises exclusively due to heterogeneity in beta radiation dose received by individual grains. We thus postulate that ‘single aliquots’ (comprising several — typically 100 — heterogeneously irradiated single grains) would have an inherent spread in the palaeodose. In this work, we used Monte Carlo simulations to quantify the extent of spread in palaeodoses arising due to heterogeneity of beta dose and hence put a limit on the precision of age estimation. Simulations results indicated, that, 1) the average of the single aliquot palaeodoses provides the closest approximation to the true palaeodose, 2) the minimum number of aliquots that are needed to obtain a robust estimate of average palaeodose value depend upon desired precision and the concentration of K, and 3) the ratio of maximum to minimum single aliquot palaeodose values for a given K concentration provides a measure of inherent spread arising due to beta dose heterogeneity. Any spread over and above this range, can be ascribed to other sources such as heterogeneous bleaching and sensitivity changes. Radiation dose from other uniformly distributed sources of beta particles (U, Th and Rb) however would reduce this spread.

Thar Desert is a rainfall deficient (∼500-100mm/year) region in the northwestern India. Previously published information on sediment facies, mineralogy, and radiocarbon chronology helped to reconstruct orbital-scale lake stands and variations in water column salinity of five different lacustrine basins in the desert. We evaluated the hydrological conditions with respect to strength (i.e., amount and geographic coverage) of the southwest summer monsoon since the last glacial maximum (LGM). Between LGM and c.15cal. ka BP, the eastern basins hosted saline and hypersaline playa lakes and the western part had an intermittent variable lake. A shift from saline-hypersaline playa lakes to perennial deep lakes occurred in the eastern margin at c.15cal. ka BP as more summer insolation increased sea surface temperature (SST) of the Indian Ocean and strengthened the southwest summer monsoon. During the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, the highest summer insolation as well as warmer SST of the Indian Ocean increased the amount of summer precipitation and expanded the southwest monsoon over the entire desert. However, more winter precipitation and minimal summer rainfall maintained perennial lakes across the desert during the early and middle Holocene. Over the middle-late Holocene, the regional arid conditions were contemporary to intervals of reduced summer insolation, southerly located Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone and frequent El-Niño Southern Oscillation

Red sand dunes occur in the coastal plains of south east and west of Tamil Nadu, India between the coordinates of 8°00′ to 9°30′ N; 77°18′ to 79° 00′ E. OSL dating of these sands indicated aggradations between ∼16-9 ka and ∼9-3 ka in the west and east coasts respectively. Dating results from inland red dunes at the foothills of Western Ghats show a break in deposition at ∼6 ka and aggradation since ∼2 ka. The sand aggradations in the west coast occurred during the transition period when SW monsoon in the area was reestablishing. The dunes attained their stability by 9 ka. In the coastal region, the aggradations were controlled by sea level changes and a local recycling of earlier dunes (in the east coast). In the inland areas, the dune building was controlled by sand supply from fluvial sources.

Thermoluminescence (TL) of feldspar is investigated for its potential to extract temperature histories experienced by rocks exposed at Earth's surface. TL signals from feldspar observed in the laboratory arise from the release of trapped electrons from a continuous distribution of trapping energies that have a range of thermal stabilities. The distribution of trapping energies, or thermal stabilities, is such that the lifetime of trapped electrons at room temperature ranges from less than a year to several billion years. Shorter lifetimes are associated with low-temperature TL signals, or peaks, and longer lifetimes are associated with high temperature TL signals. Here we show that trapping energies associated with shorter lifetimes, or lower-temperature TL signals (i.e. between 200 and 250 ^∘C), are sensitive to temperature fluctuations occurring at Earth's surface over geological timescales. Furthermore, we show that it is possible to reconstruct past surface temperature histories in terrestrial settings by exploiting the continuous distribution of trapping energies. The potential of this method is first tested through theoretical experiments, in which a periodic temperature history is applied to a kinetic model that encapsulates the kinetic characteristics of TL thermometry. We then use a Bayesian approach to invert TL measurements into temperature histories of rocks, assuming that past temperature variations follow climate variations observed in the δ¹⁸O records. Finally, we test the approach on two samples collected at the Mer de Glace (Mont Blanc massif, European Alps) and find similar temperature histories for both samples. Our results show that the TL of feldspar may be used as a paleothermometer.