Optical Dating of Holocene Dune Sands in the Ferris Dune Field, Wyoming

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Abstract
Optical dating of late Quaternary quartz dune sands from the Clear Creek portion of Ferris dune field, Wyoming, demonstrates the considerable potential of the technique as a chronostratigraphic tool. A sequence of radiocarbon-dated Holocene interdune strata permit optical dating of the intercalated dune sand to be tested; the concordance is good. The optical dates for the aeolian deposits not datable by radiocarbon suggest that aeolian sedimentation at Clear Creek peaked during two relatively short phases at ca. 8500 and 4000 yr B.P. The dates indicate that aeolian accumulation maxima (at least in the Clear Creek area) may not be synchronous with previously defined phases of marked aridity.