Electron spin resonance and optically stimulated luminescence chronology of the Sanggan River terraces in the Nihewan Basin, North China

The chronology study of river terraces is important to reconstruct the history of regional climate change and tectonic uplift. Due to greater signal dose saturation levels, electron spin resonance (ESR) dating became as a potentially powerful tools for the chronology of Middle Pleistocene terraces. In this study, two profiles of terrace fluvial sediments from the Sanggan River Canyon were dated using quartz Ti–Li center ESR method. The ESR dating results show that the terraces T3 to T6 were formed at 125 ± 16 ka, 181 ± 20 ka, 315 ± 31 ka and 379 ± 44 ka, respectively. T1 and T2 were formed at 7 ± 0.3 ka and 43 ± 4 ka respectively obtained from optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating. These are among the first numerical ages obtained for such high terraces in the Nihewan Basin. The present work contributes to establish the chronological framework of the Late Middle Pleistocene and Holocene terraces of the Sanggan river and to improve the Quaternary stratigraphy of the Nihewan Basin. •ESR and OSL dating was applied on fluvial terrace sediments of Sanggan River.•The fluvial system is composed by 6 stepped terraces.•The terraces development due to both tectonic and climatic constraints.