Testing the reliability of ESR dating of optically exposed buried quartz sediments

Optical dating of quartz by optically stimulated luminescence has a time range that is generally less than about 500 ka, due to relatively rapid saturation of the available luminescence defects in quartz. We test here a new method, electron spin resonance (ESR) optical dating of quartz, in which radiation-sensitive defects at aluminum and titanium atoms on silicon sites give rise to signals which can only be detected near liquid nitrogen temperature and which have a much higher capacity to absorb radiation dose before saturating than optical luminescence-detected signals. Our results show this method yields agreement with independent age control out to about 2.5 million years, extending here the dating range of optically exposed quartz in sediments in along-shore sediments (aeolian and waterlain) by a factor of about 5. Three sites in along-shore lacustrine and marine aeolian environments yielded very good agreement with independent age control. Details of single saturating exponential fitting in relation to agreement with expected burial doses and annealing of Al and Ti signals provide additional data to consider the best approaches to the dating method. Furthermore, we propose a new criterion for ESR optical dating: both the Al signal and Ti signal ages must agree to insure accurate burial ages. Moreover, when Al signal ages are lower than Ti signal ages, then the Al signal may be taken as the minimum burial age.     

On the origin of 1.5 μm luminescence in porous silicon coated with sol–gel derived erbium-doped Fe2O3 films

Sol–gel derived Fe₂O₃ films containing about 10 wt% of Er₂O₃ were deposited on porous silicon by dipping or by a spin-on technique followed by thermal processing at 1073 K for 15 min. The samples were characterized by means of PL, SEM and X-ray diffraction analyses. They exhibit strong room-temperature luminescence at 1.5 μm related to erbium in the sol–gel derived host. The luminescence intensity increases by a factor of 1000 when the samples are cooled from 300 to 4.2 K. After complete removal of the erbium-doped film by etching and partial etching the porous silicon, the erbium-related luminescence disappears. Following this, luminescence at 1.5 μm originating from optically active dislocations (“D-lines”) in porous silicon was detected. The influence of the conditions of synthesis on luminescence at 1.5 μm is discussed.     

Luminescence dating: laboratory procedures and protocols

In the last 30 years, from 1967 to 1997, the use of luminescence signals from naturally occurring minerals has gone though a major metamorphosis, from thermoluminescence (TL) dating of pottery to optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of sediments. Laboratory procedures for dating sediments have been adapted from those for pottery and new procedures have been developed as the need arises.

The majority of sediment dating applications are carried out on quartz and potassium-rich feldspars and the general characteristics of the TL and OSL signals from these minerals are reviewed. For sediments some new problems were encountered, with some grains perhaps not being completely bleached at deposition. For OSL signals there is no simple procedure for the selection of a thermally stable signal, as there had been in the case of pottery.

Many different laboratory protocols have been developed as our understanding of the fundamental behaviour of luminescence signals from quartz and feldspar has improved. These protocols are explained and discussed, giving the advantages and disadvantages of each procedure as applied to different types of sediment.

This review is presented as a guide to the selection of the most appropriate procedure for a particular dating application.     

A variable narrow bandpass optically stimulated luminescence system for quaternary geochronology

A new optically stimulated luminescence system is devised for dating Quaternary geologic sediments. This instrument can provide any chosen wavelength between 400 and 850 nm with a bandwidth of 0.4–20.4 nm and a beam intensity adjustable between 7 and 110% of full power. The measured radiant flux at the sample position varies between 9.7 and 34.3 mW/cm², providing sufficient energy for photoluminescence studies. It is hoped that this instrument will reveal the optimal wavelengths and bandwidths for dating Quaternary waterlain and other poorly light-exposed sediments.     

Comparison of ‘blue’ and ‘infrared’ emission bands in thermoluminescence of alkali feldspars

Dating quaternary sediments by thermoluminescence (TL) or optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) calls for a detailed knowledge of the luminescence of feldspars. TL of the various alkali feldspars ((K, Na) Si₃AlO₈) display many common features, and some of these cause great difficulties for dating. After long storage following ionizing irradiation, the TL of most alkali feldspars is known to fade away by “anomalous fading”, which is incompatible with dating. This effect had been attributed to tunnel recombination. Following irradiation, a very intense tunnelling afterglow is observed at temperatures down to liquid nitrogen, in accordance with the observed rate of fading. This emission has a Gaussian spectrum entirely in the infrared (IR) with a maximum at 1.7 eV. It displays an important thermal quenching from 77 to 300 K. Its intensity is related with the ‘disorder’ of the crystal lattice. At higher temperatures, in TL proper, two emission bands can be separated. One is the well-studied complex visible emission, distributed over the spectral region from UV to orange, but mostly ‘blue’. The other is the ‘infrared’ band already observed at lower temperatures, which is attributed to Fe³⁺ ions. These two bands are clearly separated, with the spectral maxima, respectively, below and above 600 nm. They have also different kinetics, the glow peaks temperatures are different. But these two different bands are also coupled in many ways, they have parallel growth and fading. With ‘disordered’ feldspars, the ‘blue’ emission displays anomalous fading, which is stronger than that of the ‘infrared’. The infrared emission is more stable, which may be interesting for the purpose of dating.     

低气压直流放电金属铜等离子体

在原子蒸气激光同位素分离技术中用直流电源实现原子化和激发电离过程,低气压下使用焊锡短路阴、阳极得到了金属铜等离子体稳定射流。在气压10^-3Pa、功率0.9kW下,测得稳定放电的伏安特性曲线和光谱强度图。通过计算得到电子密度在10⁹cm^-3左右、电子温度在0.69eV左右。     

沉积物中石英ESR测年功率饱和效应的初步研究

介绍了几组沉积物中石英ESR功率饱和效应的基础实验情况,认为在用石英进行ESR测年时,微波功率的选择是一个重要参数,它直接影响累积剂量(AD)的求取,从而严重影响测年结果。在某些特定的地质环境下(如黄土,海洋沉积物),采用比较高的微波功率,可从沉积物石英的E＇心得到较老沉积物(大于50万年)可信的ESR年代。     

Bound exciton in CuGaS2

In CuGaS₂ crystals absorption and luminescence spectra at the temperature 9 K at excitation by different wavelengths of Ar laser are investigated. A series of lines available in luminescence and absorption spectra is found. Another series of lines is found only in absorption spectra. The found series of lines of absorption and luminescence are determined by excitons bound on neutral acceptor. A model of electron transitions between the energy levels of the exciton bound on neutral acceptor is proposed.     

Luminescence and ESR of the natural alkali feldspars, extracted from sediments, doped by probe impurities

Natural alkali feldspars extracted from sediments were doped by probe impurities (Eu, Ag, Cu) whose behaviour has been studied in other crystal matrices. On the basis of luminescence and ESR characteristics of the doped minerals, and using analogy with other systems, it is concluded that Eu²⁺ and Ag⁺ centres were created in alkali feldspars. It is established that thermal and optical depopulation of traps, actual for luminescence dating, leads to subsequent electron recombination processes.     

Sources of overdispersion in a K-rich feldspar sample from north-central India: Insights from De,K content and IRSL age distributions for individual grains

Luminescence dating of individual sand-sized grains of quartz is a well-established technique in Quaternary geochronology, but the most ubiquitous mineral on the surface of the Earth—feldspar—has received much less attention at the single-grain level. In this study, we estimated single-grain equivalent dose values and infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) ages for K-rich feldspar (KF) grains from a fluvial sample underlying Youngest Toba Tuff (YTT) deposits in north-central India, and compared these ages (corrected for anomalous fading) with those obtained from individual grains of quartz from the same sample. Both minerals have broadly similar single-grain age distributions, but both are greatly overdispersed and most grains have ages substantially younger than the expected age of the YTT deposit (～74 ka). Almost half (45%) of KF grains used for age calculation have fading rates statistically consistent with zero, but the age distribution of these grains is as dispersed as that of the entire population. We obtained a similar distribution of ages calculated for 51 grains using their individually measured internal K contents, which exhibited only minor grain-to-grain variation. Given the lack of dependency of single-grain ages on the measured fading rates and internal K contents, and the overall adequacy of bleaching of grains collected from a sandbar in the modern river channel, we consider the spread in ages is most likely due to mixing, at the time of deposition and after the YTT event, of potentially well-bleached fluvially-transported sediments with older grains derived from slumping of riverbank deposits. Some spread may also be due to natural variations in the IRSL properties of individual KF grains.