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The optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) signals from quartz consist of several physically distinct components, which are commonly referred to as fast, medium and slow components. In this study, the OSL components of quartz from the Taklimakan Desert and the Hunshandake sandy land in north China are investigated. Our results show that the relative contributions of OSL components to the bulk OSL signal can be significantly different among quartz grains from both deserts. Laboratory dosing, optical bleaching and heating experiments are used to test their effects on the relative contributions of quartz OSL components. It is found that cycles of dosing and optical bleaching have insignificant impact on the relative contributions of quartz OSL components, while heating to high temperature (500 degrees C) can significantly enhance the contribution of the fast component to the bulk OSL signals, especially for quartz samples from the Taklimakan Desert. Such results suggest that the different heating history of natural quartz grains plays an important role in controlling OSL components. Additionally, the quartz grains from the Hunshandake sandy land can easily be distinguished from those of the Taklimakan Desert, by using a ternary plot of fast-medium-slow components. The quartz grains from the Hunshandake sandy land exhibit a much stronger fast component than those from the Taklimakan Desert. This can be explained by that the quartz grains from the Hunshandake sandy land are mainly of igneous origin, while most of the quartz grains from the Taklimakan Desert are of low grade metamorphic origin. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.