Reducing empiricism in luminescence geochronology: Understanding the origins of luminescence from individual sand grains

Informazioni relative al progetto

RELOS

ID dell’accordo di sovvenzione: 639904

DOI 10.3030/639904

Progetto concluso

Data della firma CE 28 Marzo 2015

Data di avvio 1 Settembre 2015

Data di completamento 31 Dicembre 2020

Finanziato da

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)

Costo totale € 1 314 963,00

Contributo UE € 1 314 963,00

Coordinato da

DANMARKS TEKNISKE UNIVERSITET
Denmark

Obiettivo

Sediments preserve a history of the evolution of the Earth’s surface and its response to a changing climate – a history that can only be read reliably if we know the age of the sediments. Luminescence dating is widely used in quaternary geology and archaeology, and is applicable to almost all sediments from the last 0.5 Ma – it dates the last time the sediment grains were exposed to daylight. RELOS will improve the reliability of luminescence dating by determining the sources of unexpected spread (over-dispersion) in measured doses derived from sand-sized grains. New hypotheses concerning charge imbalance, charge transport and dose calibration of luminescence signals will be tested by: (i) quantifying the effect of grain size and irradiation geometry/quality on grain-to-grain dose dispersion, and particularly the importance of charge particle equilibrium at these scales; (ii) quantifying dispersion arising from grain-to-grain variations in environmental dose rate; (iii) developing measurement procedures giving the same luminescence response per unit dose as in nature; (iv) developing a dispersion budget and new conceptual/numerical models for luminescence production based on (i) to (iii); and (v) testing the results of these investigations using well-defined natural samples. This project investigates fundamental issues of charge (de)trapping and recombination at small scales that have been completely ignored in previous studies, and problems of luminescence response that are sidestepped in the literature, in part by the unsatisfactory approach of arbitrary data rejection. These studies will result in major improvements in our understanding of the small-scale dosimetry of mixed radiation fields and a step change in the reliability of single-grain luminescence ages. The project links these fundamental studies to clear outcomes of considerable potential value to a variety of fields including earth sciences, archaeology and palaeoanthropology.

Campo scientifico

• scienze naturali › scienze della terra e scienze ambientali connesse › geologia › geocronologia
• scienze umanistiche › storia e archeologia › storia
• scienze agricole › agricoltura, silvicoltura e pesca › agricoltura › cereali e semi oleosi
• scienze umanistiche › storia e archeologia › archeologia
• scienze naturali › matematica › matematica pura › geometria

Programma(i)

• H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme

Argomento(i)

• ERC-StG-2014 - ERC Starting Grant

Invito a presentare proposte

ERC-2014-STG

Meccanismo di finanziamento

ERC-STG - Starting Grant

Coordinatore

DANMARKS TEKNISKE UNIVERSITET

• Contribution nette de l'UE: € 1 116 648,00
• Indirizzo: Anker engelunds vej 101 ; 2800 Kongens lyngby ; Danimarca
• Regione: Danmark › Hovedstaden › Københavns omegn
• Tipo di attività: Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
• Altri finanziamenti: € 0,00

Beneficiari (2)

DANMARKS TEKNISKE UNIVERSITET

Danimarca

• Contribution nette de l'UE: € 1 116 648,00
• Indirizzo: Anker engelunds vej 101 ; 2800 Kongens lyngby
• Regione: Danmark › Hovedstaden › Københavns omegn
• Tipo di attività: Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
• Altri finanziamenti: € 0,00

AARHUS UNIVERSITET

Partecipazione conclusa

Danimarca

• Contribution nette de l'UE: € 198 315,00
• Indirizzo: Nordre ringgade 1 ; 8000 Aarhus c
• Regione: Danmark › Midtjylland › Østjylland
• Tipo di attività: Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
• Altri finanziamenti: € 0,00