A Preliminary note on depositional characteristics and optical luminescence age of a marine terrace, strait of Canakkale, Turkey

Abstract

This preliminary study investigated the depositional features and optical luminescence age of marine terrace sediments located on the east coast of the Strait of Canakkale, Turkey. With regard to depositional setting, the studied sequence is formed mostly of shallow marine deposits rich in quartz and oysters as well as other accessory minerals and various fossil sea shells. In vertical section, the sequence is characterized by two different stratigraphic units, i.e. a 1.50-m-thick sandy to gravely bottom unit (unit A) and an overlying 2.5-m-thick fossiliferous zone (unit B). On the basis of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) age estimations obtained from six sampling levels from bottom to top, we determined superimposed cycles of deposition during interglacials from 246.47 +/- 25.32 ka (unit A) at MIS 7 to 127.48 +/- 8.91 ka (unit B) at MIS 5.