We have investigated the effects of annealing quartz at temperatures up to
1000 degreesC on both the absolute sensitivity and on the growth curve shap
e, using quartz extracts from three sedimentary samples from widely separat
ed locations. Growth curves up to 670 Gy were measured using the single-ali
quot regenerative-dose protocol, which allows all heat treatments and OSL m
easurements to be performed on a single sub-sample, with a corresponding im
provement in precision when compared with multiple-aliquot protocols. It is
found that the degree of dose-dependent sensitivity change is dependent on
the annealing temperature. Despite this, and absolute sensitivity changes
of more than three orders of magnitude, the growth-curve shape is relativel
y independent of annealing temperature, especially at low doses. (C) 2001 E
lsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.