Fading characteristics of martian analogue materials and the applicability of a correction procedure

The anomalous fading of trapped charge in martian analogue materials such as basalt and andesite rock samples is measured. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) signals show rapid fading (of between 4% and 27% per decade). Fading rates obtained using high temperature thermoluminescence signals are smaller. The importance of knowing whether a standard fading correction method is applicable to samples of unknown age is illustrated by application to an 'infinitely old' known-age basalt, for which both the uncorrected and fading-corrected natural signals lie within the approximately linear region of the growth curve. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.