A New Late Holocene Eolianite Record from Altinkum Beach, North Cyprus

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the main depositional characteristics and obtained Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) ages of coastal eolianite on the north coast of Cyprus, where this occurrence had not previously been recorded. Based on EDX/SEM and XRD data and field observations, the studied eolianite that crops out between elevations of 1 m and 14 m a.s.l. is made up predominantly of quartz grains, most of which consist of medium- to fine-grained sand. The rock comprises aragonite, calcite and quartz with lesser amounts of bornite and hematite as accessory minerals. OSL ages indicated that the initial deposition of eolianite sands took place at 1.51 +/- 0.21 ka years ago.