Optical dating of post-European settlement channel change: Gilmore Creek, southeastern Australia

Abstract

A combination of single grain Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating and historical records shows that a major change in the channel morphology of Gilmore Creek occurred early in the period since European settlement of its catchment. By about 1880 the late Holocene sinuous, small-capacity channel was infilled with sand and abandoned and then replaced by a high capacity bedload-dominated system. Our results demonstrate the value of single grain OSL methods for dating post-European settlement channel change in southern Australia.