Luminescence Dating of Sediments: An Increasingly Diverse Family of Methods and Range of Applications

Abstract:

In recent years, the term ‘luminescence dating’ has expanded its meaning such that today it encompasses a range of luminescence dating methods and materials. Whilst the fundamental principles that underlie these different dating methods are essentially the same, namely that the event typically being recorded is the last exposure of the material to light or to heat, the various luminescence dating techniques do differ in their suitability in different situations. Today, in the field of luminescence dating of sediments, there are a number of minerals that can be used for dating (quartz and feldspar being the most commonly used), and for each mineral it is possible to obtain a number of different luminescence signals (some obtained using optical stimulation, and some obtained by heating). These different luminescence signals may build-up and deplete in the natural environment at different rates from each other, and can span quite different time ranges. Additionally, the scale of analysis used in luminescence dating can now be varied (ranging from single sand-sized grains to multiple grains), as can the size range of the materials used for dating (ranging from fine-silt, coarse-silt, and sand-sized grains, through to large clasts and rock surfaces). Having such flexibility in the range of minerals, luminescence signals, grain sizes, and the scales of analysis available for dating, means that it is now possible to optimise the materials and methods selected for dating in any particular study in response to the precise scientific question to be addressed, the time-range of interest, and the likely mechanisms of re-setting of the luminescence signal in the context that is to be dated.

In this paper, the flexibility offered by the growing family of luminescence techniques will be outlined by considering some of the different minerals, luminescence signals, and dramatically different timescales (tens of years to millions of years) potentially available for sediment dating, and with reference to comparisons with independent chronology wherever possible.