Luminescence dating limitations

Luminescence dating can offer an alternative as it allows determining the time when sediments were laid down. 1999), and rarely are tephra layers preserved or synsedimentary carbonates developed that would permit radiometric dating. Unraveling such dynamics has proven difficult mainly because establishing chronologies for fans and cones is challenging: Buried organic remains are usually scare (Chiverrell and Jakob 2012, this volume), dendrochronology and lichenometry (Schneuwly-Bollschweiler and Stoffel 2012, this volume Jomelli 2012, this volume) will often be limited to cone and fan surfaces and help accessing the recent past only (Lang et al.

Interactions between tectonic, climate, and base-level controls often render fans and cones dynamic geomorphic features – even on timescales of millennia and beyond (Harvey 2010).

Alluvial fans and debris cones are important buffers in the sediment cascade from mountains to the sea.