Mineral zircon: A novel thermoluminescence geochronometer |
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| Authors: | H J Vanes D I Vainshtein R J De Meijer H W Den Hartog J F Donoghue A Rozendaal |
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| Institution: | 1. Solid State Physics Laboratory , University of Groningen , 4 Nijenborgh NL 9747 AG, Groningen , The Netherlands;2. Nuclear Geophysics Division , Kernfysisch Versneller Instituut , Zernikelaan 25 9747 AA, Groningen , The Netherlands;3. Department of Geological Sciences , Florida State University , Tallahassee , Florida , 32306 , USA;4. Department of Geology , University of Stellenbosch , Stellenbosch , R.S.A. |
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| Abstract: | Mineral zircon contains trace amounts (typically 10-1000 v ppm) of the f -emitters uranium and thorium, which irradiate this mineral internally. This outstanding feature of zircon turns out to be extremely useful when this mineral is applied as a thermoluminescence (TL) dating medium, because the build-up of the age-dependent luminescence is dominated by the presence of well-defined internal radioactive sources and the contributions to the dose from external radiation sources are two orders of magnitude smaller. The results presented in this paper have led us to the conclusion that for zircon dating it is necessary to carefully select the best and homogeneous zircon grains of the highest optical quality. For successful dating experiments on very young and historically well-defined coastal dune sands, selection of the most stable luminescence component by means of narrow band interference filters is needed. Our results suggest that ultimately optical zircon dating will allow us to determine the age of extremely young samples ( e.g. 12 months!). |
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| Keywords: | Zircon Thermoluminescence Geochronological Dosimetry Dating |
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