The effects of ultraviolet (UV) irradiation and heat-treatment on hydrogen speciation in H-2 loaded Ge-doped silica glasses have been investigated using Fourier transform infrared(FTIR) spectroscopy and high-resolution H-1 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Various H-bearing species, including H-2, SiOH, GeOH, SiH, GeH, GeH2, are identified in the glasses. Their characteristic infrared 7(IR) absorption frequency and H-1 NMR chemical shift values are determined, and the molar absorption coefficients of these IR bands calibrated. IR measurements based on the molar absorption coefficients calibrated in this study indicate that GeH and OH are the major H-bearing species produced in hydrogen-loaded germanosilicate glass upon intense UV irradiation. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.