Optical dating of Holocene lake bed sediments of the Nimbluk Plain, Khorasan, Northeast Iran: Implications for the climate change and palaeo-environment

We have investigated an optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating study in the Nimbluk lakebed in Khorasan, northeast Iran. Two samples of the lake-bed sediments from ~1 m below the land surface are successfully dated at 7.3-9.9 ka. All necessary experiments have been performed to choose the most suitable procedure for dating quartz extracts using single aliquot regeneration method (SAR). We have employed weighted histogram, unweighted histogram and central age model (CAM) for equivalent dose determination. Although, these results of the ages do not allow us to determine the timing of desiccation, the results suggest that the early part of the Holocene was much wetter than today. This provides valuable palaeo-environmental data in the region.