The main application of Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating is to establish chronologies for Quaternary sediments. The most common types of luminescence used in palaeontology are those derived from blue or green stimulation (OSL), violet stimulation (VSL) used for quartz grains and infrared stimulation (IRSL) used for measuring feldspar. From the intensity of the signal emitted it is possible to estimate the dose of radiation that grains were exposed to. The CENIEH´s geochronology laboratory has five Risø TL-OSL readers- Model-DA-20 , with built-in 90Sr beta sources. These can measure at multigrain and single grain levels using different stimulation sources. In addition, one of the luminescence reader is equipped with an EMCCD camera, allowing the detection of the luminescence signal of individual grains simultaneously. For the determination of the radionuclide concentration, the facilities include two high-resolution gamma spectrometers and two Inspector 1000 Canberra portable gamma spectrometers.
Potential Results
OSL dating yields the ages of the burial of the sediment. The age range is wide, from less than ten years ago to around 200 ka with conventional methods. Furthermore, it can be applied in numerous sedimentary environments, such as sand dunes (aeolian environments), coastal environments, fluvial and alluvial processes and karstic infills