The applications of optically stimulated luminescence dating in active fault and paleo-earthquake studies: A review

Quantifying the activity and seismic recurrence behavior of active faults is essential for assessing seismic risk. A reliable chronology of faulting events is necessary, and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating is a robust technique that offers advantages for situations where materials for radiocarbon dating are unavailable. However, OSL dating of young events (<5 kyr) can be challenging due to a variety of reasons, incomplete signal resetting, low OSL grain sensitivity, and signal instability, particularly in fluvial, colluvial, and alluvial settings. These factors also limit broader applications of OSL technique in Late Quaternary geology studies. Recent efforts to overcome these limitations have included modified protocols and statistical approaches, such as pulsed infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) signal method and the modified unlogged three- and four-parameter minimum age (MAM) models. The agreement of OSL dating results with independent age control, such as 14C dating, verifies its effectiveness and reliability in providing timing constraints of faulting events. New techniques and methods, such as pulsed photon-stimulated luminescence (PPSL) and rock surface luminescence dating (RSLD), are gaining momentum, expanding the horizon of conventional OSL dating as a significant tool for the Late Quaternary timescale. Future development of OSL techniques for dating active faults and paleo-earthquakes will prioritize the accuracy and precision of OSL results for short time scales and the development of new softwares for analyzing OSL datasets in complex settings.