Geological glacial features such as moraines can be used to construct the environment of former times. While sands may indicate colder phases, soils and peat preserved witness warm phases. Using various dating techniques, the ages of such features can be obtained. This is important in order to get an understanding of the climate of the past, in this study on the extent of the ice marginal position in Schleswig-Holstein.

Comparing quartz optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and fine-grain post-infrared infrared stimulated luminescence (pIRIR) ages, agreement was largely found, e.g. the bracketing of the L1SS1 pedocomplex to ca. 30–40 ka. Nevertheless some age differences between the Bayreuth (OSL) and the Gliwice (pIRIR) data invite further discussion. Exact dating using various protocols and grain sizes remains challenging, in particular for a periglacial environment with strong heterogeneity of material.

The presented doctoral dissertation uses luminescence dating techniques to reconstruct the past environmental and climatic conditions in the middle and lower Danube basin during the period of Homo sapiens' emergence in Europe. The methodological approach focused on optically stimulated luminescence dating of loess deposits, but for some the sections the geochronological methods were combined with physical, biological and geochemical proxy data to reconstruct the paleoenvironmental conditions.

This paper is about deglaciation history in two areas of southern Norway. By dating rock surfaces we can estimate a minimum ice sheet thickness of 1476 m a.s.l. and a timing of deglaciation around 13 000 years ago in the western study area. In the eastern study area the deglaciation history is complex as the bedrock age most likely has inheritance from earlier ice-free periods. Comparing both study areas demonstrates the complex dynamics of the deglaciation in different areas in southern Norway.