Anomalous fading of various luminescence signals from terrestrial basaltic samples as Martian analogues

The fading rates (g-values) of various luminescence signals were measured using four samples of basalt. It appeared that the fading rates measured by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) detected in the UV, and thermoluminescence (TL) detected in the blue, were generally large and varied greatly between the samples (4-30% per decade). On the other hand, the fading rate of the infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) signals was uniform and small (5-7% per decade). It was also found that the fading rate was larger in the samples containing olivine, pyroxene and plagioclase phenocrysts and smaller in glassy samples.